


Fallen through time

by lvalentinamb



Category: Ivar the Boneless - Fandom, Vikings (TV), Vikings (TV) RPF
Genre: F/M, Multi, Romance, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2018-12-20 18:59:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 31,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11927196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lvalentinamb/pseuds/lvalentinamb
Summary: A 21st century girl somehow falls through time and finds herself in the 9th century, in a world ruled by war, adrenaline and blood. What is more important: the gods from that time seem to have sent her there and now she has to figure out why.Nothing seems clear except for one thing, she has to do her best and survive, she's just going to survive, nothing else, or at least those are her thoughts before getting lost in those dammed deep blue eyes and that wicked smile.People say things happen for a reason, and maybe the youngest of the Ragnarssons is the reason she's been waiting for.





	1. Intro

Well... I can't give a proper explanation since I still don’t know how everything happened, I didn’t expect that day to be any different and still, the universe, God, the gods or who knows what seemed to have thought it was a great idea to just have their way with me and throw me into the unknown, so that’s exactly what they did.

You may think I’m exaggerating or that I’m just being a “dramatic young lady” and I wish I could say you are right but this is not the case and I don’t know if that’s good or bad.

So, let me tell you something about me and the situation I am in.  
My name is... or was Grace.  
I had just turned 20 when the craziest of situations began, I was enjoying a peaceful time with my brother the moment things changed, the moment I fell through time, yes, I’m being serious, one moment I was having fun celebrating on the 21st century and at the next I had been thrown into the 9th century with no warning at all, I had to learn how to survive on an unknown time and world and let me tell you a secret: things were not as dreadful as you may think, in fact, I could often find myself enjoying that new life and that’s how this story goes.


	2. Chapter I: May Eve

I woke up to the warm feeling of sunlight entering the room I had been staying at for the past week and my first thought was how I wished to keep on sleeping so I sank further into the bed and tried to pull the covers over me but they were thrown away by my brother before I could do as I wished.

“Rise and shine sister!” he literally shouted in front of my face as I sat on the bed, I was still trying to go back to consciousness otherwise I would have hit him, you know, just to make things even. It took a couple of seconds for me to fully grasp the situation and remember where I was, dad and his group had finally gotten the approval to start exploring the Danish coast looking for traces of past civilisations, knowing my birthday was coming and that me and my brother would stick together all the time dad decided to take us with him for a couple of months and being obsessed with stories of fantastic Vikings and fearless gods thanks to my grandpa I was loving every second of the journey.

“You need to be ready in 30, we’ll have breakfast here and then we can go to the place I told you about.” I just nodded my head to my brother and got off the bed, he had told me last night that one lady who seemed to work where we were staying at had talked about a place a few hours away from where we were where people went to celebrate the ‘old holidays’ in the same way people from a past time did and of course I was excited to go there.

While growing up my grandpa used to tell me that my birth date and time were special and I liked to believe him because what child doesn’t want to be a little bit special? I had been born at precisely the midnight of April the 30th so you could say I had been born on May the 1st, on that date the Old Norse people celebrated May Eve commemorating the end of the nine nights Odin spent hanging from the Yggdrasil, how he died for a moment and came back to life. When I was younger I liked to think that my birthday had a little bit of that magic and grandpa encouraged those thoughts, now they were just happy memories, I didn’t actually believe anymore that my birthday was that special but I would always enjoy watching people celebrate May Eve or any of the old holidays, to me those celebrations were the real magical thing.

I picked the simplest of outfits for the day, white shirt, black jeans, climbing boots, my dearest necklace that grandpa had given to me a long time ago a jacket, and I was ready to take on the world or at least to claim my breakfast, I gathered only the necessary stuff in my pockets and after quickly checking myself on the mirror I headed out of the room.  
“I want both of you to call if anything happens and take some blankets with you in case you have to sleep out in the open” dad advised us as we were leaving “Take care of your sister Jason" he said giving my brother a warning look "and Grace, for the love of god don’t go wander just by yourself” dad gave us a quick hug and then we left the inn.

The journey was a lot of fun, Jason had rented a car so we didn’t have to worry about transportation, we talked a lot about our memories together and laughed out loud when the funny anecdotes came up during the journey, I was thankful to have a brother like Jason, people used to say we acted like twins always by each other’s side and that it was weird for brother and sister to get along so well but that was our nature, he was my older brother and the dearest person to me and I appreciated any time we could spend together.

The place turned out to be a little more than a few hours away and when we got there it was way past lunchtime, the scenery was beautiful it was like something out of a fairy tale, people were wearing traditional clothing, some people wore complete attires made of wool with beautiful embroidery, whilst others were dressed only in the simplest of tunics, there were tents set up around the camp, there was a place for a big bonfire to be lit up as midnight came and everyone was more than ready to celebrate the All Father's return to life.

We made our way through the maze of tents to where the woman my brother talked about was waiting for us, she was a little over 60 years old but she sure had a lot of energy, we found her carrying wood to set up the smallest bonfires that would be lit around the place, she greeted us with a warm smile and showed us where the rest of the wood was so we could help her, that simple task took us a couple of hours and when things were finished the sun had started to go down.

I sat on an improvised bench made from a fallen tree so I could rest a little bit when a bearded old man offered me a drink “you look tired child, drink” I gladly accepted the cup the man was offering and took a big sip of it “what is this?” I asked taking the drink to my lips again.

“It is ale, we like to drink it when we celebrate, people here make it themselves, do you like it?” he spoke with a thick accent I nodded handing back the empty cup.“It tastes like beer but it also tastes like nothing I’ve ever tried” I commented and the man laughed wholeheartedly “That’s exactly how I like my ale” he replied filling the cup and giving it back to me,  he poured some ale in his own cup and sat by my side as he started drinking, I took the chance to examine him better, he was wearing a very old hat, it looked even older than him, his hair and beard where almost completely white but in spite of that his body looked strong and well built, his posture was imponent and regal, and his aura was powerful and attractive, the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up leaving his tattoed arms for everyone to see, one thing I found interesting was that he had two identical raven tattoos on both of his forearms, they where so detailed and well-inked that it looked like they could fly away from his skin any moment, the man caught me looking at his tattoos so I took my gaze away feeling suddenly shy.

"Do you like them?" he asked looking at the tattoos.

"Yes" I answered embarrassed because he had caught me "they look so real" I followed.

"They are Huginn and Muninn" he said "the All Father's ravens" he added.

"They are beautiful" I exclaimed still fascinated "I'm sorry for the curiosity sir but what is your name?" I blurted out unable to restrain myself. 

The man laughed loudly "Sviðurr" he answered and without missing a beat he stood up and filled my cup again, “Enjoy the night child” he smiled warmly, and with that being said he left probably to offer ale to some other person at the camp, "what an interesting encounter" I thought to myself taking the new-filled cup to my lips and following the man with my eyes until he got lost between all the other people of the camp.

As the night progressed things got more and more hyped, musicians were playing their instruments creating a harmony that seemed to be taken right from the dark ages giving the atmosphere an almost mystical feeling, torches were lit up around the camp and people including myself would be seen dancing and drinking carelessly around the place, there was a feeling of primitive freedom that was just hard to explain but it seemed to fill my body and invade my soul, I felt ethereal, without a worry in the world, I wanted to keep on feeling like that for as long as I could.

I stopped dancing when I saw my brother coming closer with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face that I naturally reflected “extend your hands and close your eyes” he ordered “no peeking” I did as told and a few seconds later I felt a light weight being pressed on my hands, I opened my eyes and saw the little bag on my hands.  
“What is this?” I questioned and Jason signaled me to open the package, my eyes and my smile got wider as I saw the content of the little bag “You got me a set of runes?” I examined the pieces inside, they were made of wood and all the symbols were carved delicately on them, they were beautiful.

“Well Odin’s child” Jason bickered with that nickname “it’s your birthday present and because I’m feeling a little more generous I’ll give you a reading” he took the runes off of my hands and sat on the floor patting the spot beside him for me to sit.

“You, the all-Greek obsessed man are going to read the runes for me?” I laughed.

“Shh, let the man do his job sister” he winked “ok I want you to close your eyes and take three runes out of the bag” I laughed but followed his game anyways it was an inoffensive reading, what’s more, my brother was doing it so it wasn´t a real reading at all, what consequences could it have?

I took the three pieces out of the bag and placed them on the grass in front of us, Jason examined them with utmost concentration as if they were actually determining my destiny.  
“Ok, you got the one that looks like an M, the one that looks like a cup on its side and the one that looks like a bow”

“Ehwaz, Perthro and Othala” I said remembering the names of the runes.

“Whatever” Jason dismissed my comment with a gesture “according to the vast knowledge I acquired last night from the internet the M means transportation but it also means an ideal marriage and partnership so maybe you will find love while on a journey” I rolled my eyes at his predictions but kept on listening anyway.

“The cup means prophecy, change and knowing the future, you already know more about the past than from this time little sister maybe this will balance things out, and finally the bow means that you will have a spiritual or physical journey” he finished with a dramatic voice “that’s all Grace, that’s your future, happy 20th birthday” Jason gave me a hug and a kiss on the top of my head “let’s go, it’s almost midnight, they are about to lit up the big bonfire”

We stood up and joined the rest of the people, there was certain electricity flowing through the air, everyone was expectant. Exactly at midnight the smaller bonfires were extinguished and only a few torches stayed lit, with the darkness came the silence, Jason held my hand tightly and after an asphyxiating moment that seemed to last an eternity the big bonfire was lit up, the music came back and with it the cheering and dancing came to life again, people would dance with anyone and the place was so packed up it seemed almost like a club on a Saturday night, people would crash with Jason and I as we tried to get out of the multitude, the sound of the music got higher and in a moment of confusion I let go of my brother’s hand, I felt scared and my heart was beating so fast as if it sensed a danger I could not see with my eyes, I shouted Jason’s name without getting a response, I kept calling for him when suddenly I couldn’t take a proper step and I found myself on the floor, people walked past me, my pulse was getting faster, my breathing was failing and then everything turned pitch black.

I felt someone taking me from the floor and commanding me to wake up with a harsh voice, it was a man’s voice and it was a language I had studied but never really spoke with anyone, the words sounded familiar yet foreign, I slowly opened my eyes feeling a little bit dizzy and expecting to see the camp I had been at just moments ago but instead I saw a group of people dressed in antique clothing even older than the outfits of the people I had seen before, they looked at me and whispered things to each other, I saw a village made of old houses, dirt roads and a great body of water mixing with the horizon.

“Who are you?” the same man demanded and I didn’t know how to answer, I knew the language that was for sure, my grandpa had taught me everything he knew about it, the problem was that that language had been extinct for centuries so why was this man using it?

“Answer!” he shook me but I seemed to be unable to combat the dizziness taking pace on my head.

“Take her to the great hall, to the queen” another voice commanded.

As the man dragged me to what I assumed was the great hall all kinds of questions began to pop up on my mind, who were these people? Why are they talking about a queen? What is this place? Why is everyone wearing clothing from centuries ago? Why were they speaking a dead language, why were they using Old Norse? And most important, How did I get here, where’s my brother, where are the others, What was going on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize If this chapter has mistakes, English is not my mother language and I'm also falling asleep, I will correct them as soon as I can tomorrow morning, as always I hope you enjoy


	3. Chapter II: Visitor

I was still trying to clear my mind so I could get a grasp of the situation I was in when we entered the place these people called the Great Hall, I could tell by the amount of drinks, food, servants and people that they were celebrating, perhaps the same event I was celebrating with my brother before getting here, the music some musicians were playing died down and it was replaced by continuous murmuring as we approached the throne, once we were in front of who I assumed was the queen silence took over the place so intensely that I thought everyone could hear my heavy breathing and my pounding heart.

“What is happening?” the woman inquired, she was slender, tall, her eyes were accentuated by what I recognized as kohl and her dress was more beautiful than any other I had ever seen in my life, she had an air of royalty emanating from her and I was sure I would still feel the same even if she was dressed in rags.

“We found this girl unconscious right in front of the big bonfire, she doesn’t answer our questions so we brought her to you queen Aslaug” I had heard that name before, I knew it, but it was impossible that the Aslaug of whom I had heard many stories was standing in front of me at this very moment, I had to wait and see if she was in fact that Aslaug and if she was, as crazy as it sounds my hopes of still finding myself in the 21st century would completely die.

The queen examined me from head to toe, raising an eyebrow at my choice of clothing, that single gesture made me feel even more out of place if possible, I lowered my head suddenly finding my boots immensely interesting until she spoke again “who are you? Where have you come from?” my eyes were captured by hers in an instant and I decided that if I wanted to see the end of this day I could not keep quiet anymore so I tried to answer her questions.

“Queen, my name is…” I was interrupted by a laughter, a creepy one, I saw a figure emerging from the shadows, approaching to the spot I was at, that person was fully covered on a black cloak and carried a long wooden cane on one hand, when the figure stood in front of me I had to suppress a gasp, I saw black lips and melted skin, the hairs at the back of my neck stood up as a shiver ran down my spine.

“I must admit that even I myself am surprised by your arrival here tonight” it was a man, his voice was a man’s even though it sounded raspy and almost supernatural.  
“Do you know who this girl is old one?” the queen asked and by her body language I could see she was getting more interested in this whole situation.

“The gods and their plans... the gods and their plans” he kept speaking through his laughter “I only see what the gods allow me to see, and I can only say what the gods allow me to say” at that moment he raised his hand directly at my neck and I tried to step back but my back collided with the chest of the man that had brought me here, making it impossible for me to avoid the ‘old one’s’ touch, I only realized that my necklace had been showing when he captured it on his fingers.

“I see many things, things beyond your comprehension” the seer continued looking around the hall “but I cannot reveal them for what the gods forbid me to, but I can show you this” he raised my necklace for everyone to see “this girl carries with her the sacred runes, Perthro and Raidho are tied around her neck, do what you will with the visitor, but fear the gods if your decision is not accurate” he handed me back the necklace and walked away, joining with the shadows as if he was never there to begin with.

“Release her” The queen commanded after a short silence “Play the music again, keep on celebrating” she continued as she stood from her seat and walked towards me “on this day when we commemorate the All Father’s death and life the gods have sent us a visitor, out of all the towns and earldoms the gods have sent this girl here to Kattegat, so we shall be honored” the musicians filled the place with harmonies as the people's cheers got louder and louder “this girl will be taken under mine and my family’s protection to honor the gods’ will” now that we were face to face I was even more intimidated by her but I was thankful for the turn of events, maybe I still had a chance, she raised her hand to my cheek and touched it gently making her way down to my necklace “That’s an interesting combination of runes” she whispered, “tell us your name and join us on the celebrations visitor”, I could feel all the stares being directed to me again, I had to think fast, I couldn’t reveal my real name, it didn’t fit with the whole situation and somewhere at the back of my head I knew that if this was going to be a new start, a new life, I needed a new name.

“My name is Eira” I chose the name based on its meaning, it meant mercy and if the gods were real that’s what they were showing me, or else I could have been sentenced to death or to a life of slavery. “I’m honored by your decision, but my queen…” the foreign words rolled from my mouth strange yet so familiar as if they had always been within me, “I don’t have a proper attire to celebrate, and I’ve also had a long journey” if fainting and waking up more than ten centuries prior to my time deserved to be called a journey “I would very much like to rest if you allow me to do so” I wasn’t lying, I felt like I was carrying the weight of the sky on my shoulders and I needed time, time to recover, time to assimilate the situation, time to think, god I even needed time to cry and let go.

“That’s right, you must be exhausted” she made a gesture with which a servant girl came running towards us “Prepare one of our rooms for Eira, make sure she’s comfortable and give her some clothes to sleep with” then she turned her gaze to me again “we’ll talk tomorrow child” it sounded more like an order than an invitation, she sat again on the throne watching the people celebrate and get drunk in my honor, this day could not get any weirder.

The servant girl and I walked to the back of the hall and the girl stood on the entrance of the one I supposed was going to be my room for I didn’t know how long “you can go inside, I’ll bring you some clothes and food” the servant disappeared as quickly as a mouse as I went inside the room, it was small yet cozy, there were furs piled up over a simple wooden structure at one of the corners making the times of a bed, at the wall right in front of the furs was a big wooden trunk that could also be used as a chair, in spite of the size of the place there was also a hearth that could keep me warm during the night so I was thankful for it, a small table and a couple of rustic chairs completed everything, it was actually a nice room. Deep inside my heart I knew I had to grow fond of that place, it was home now after all.

As I stared blankly to the entrance of the room the servant came back, on a hand she was carrying a basket with food and on the other she was carrying a nightdress, she handed it to me and hurried to place the food on the table “What’s your name?” I asked before I could stop myself, maybe asking people's names out of the blue was my new hobbie, the girl looked startled by the question but answered right away “Ylva my la…”

“Just call me Eira” I interrupted her before she could say ‘lady’ it sounded weird “we must be the same age anyway, tell me Ylva how old are you?” I inquired hoping she actually knew her age.

“I’m 20 the same age as prince Ivar” ok I was getting the bits of information I needed without asking for them, so there was a queen Aslaug, a prince Ivar and I was in Kattegat, slowly the fog in my head started to clear up and it was replaced with the numerous stories and historical facts I had been taught back home, I needed to use that knowledge to my advantage I knew it was the only way I could survive on this newfound world.

“See? We are the same age after all” I smiled signaling her to get closer as I made room for her to sit beside me, she hesitated for a moment but sat at my side anyways “Tell me Ylva king Ragnar is not here in Kattegat?” I ventured, that was the last piece of the puzzle I was building on my head, the last piece that would confirm what I already knew.

“The king is away, he left a long time ago, no one knows when he will be back, I’ve heard he was planning to go to a place called Paris but I’m not sure if he went there” I felt certain relief in knowing the historical time and place I was in, I closed my eyes for a second and thanked my dad and my grandpa for teaching me everything they knew, who would have said that my life could literally depend on history one day?

I stood from the bed and Ylva jumped instantly standing on her feet, I took the basket with the food and making the girl sit again I accommodated myself on my previous position “eat with me, I don’t like to eat alone” I offered a piece of bread and the both of us proceeded to eat in comfortable silence, when there was no food left on the basket Ylva went away, I murmured a ‘thank you’ as she walked through the door and wished her good night, she seemed to be nice, I wondered how her life was as a servant, if the queen treated her well and if she would be able to rest with the celebrations still going on strong at the great hall.

As much as I wanted to think and worry about home and my family, all the emotional load was taking a toll on me, my eyes were growing heavier and the furs looked way more inviting with every passing moment, I discharged my clothes on the floor and changed into the nightgown Ylva had brought, It was a simple white linen tunic, I didn’t care where she had gotten it from, it was comfy and that was all that mattered at that point, I lied on the bed as long as I was and covering my body with furs I parted to dreamland secretly hoping I could wake up the next day at my brother’s loud voice but a part of me knew that was not going to happen I was not going to go back.

 

Do you know that feeling of being observed? That’s exactly the first thing I felt the next morning, I was still half asleep when someone shook my shoulder lightly luring me to consciousness “Jason let me sleep, I had the weirdest of dreams, I’m tired” I whined and tried to cover myself up but my shoulder was shaken again so I sat up ready to snap at my brother, I opened my eyes and as I realized where I was I swallowed the words I had planned to say.

In front of me there were four young men, one of them was leaning on the wall, he had blonde hair pulled back in a pair of braids and a playful expression, another one, was standing with his arms crossed on his chest, his hair was a little lighter than the other man and because it wasn’t pulled back it seemed longer in comparison, one more was sitting on one of the chairs, hair black as a raven and eyes so blue that they seemed to contain the secrets of the sky and the ocean, I have to admit I looked at him for a little more than the others but there was some kind of energy emanating from him luring me in, with a little effort I looked away from him and focused on the last man standing by the side of the bed, he was the one who woke me up, his eyes were kind and his expression was overall calm, even like that I noticed his body was well built and that he could knock me out with a single punch if he wanted to, he was the first one to start talking after noticing my confused expression.

“Your name is Eira right?” I simply nodded sitting straight on the bed, rubbing my eyes and fixing my hair a little bit, I knew I looked like a mess no matter how hard I tried to fix it “I am Ubbe and these are my brothers Hvitserk…” he said signaling the blonde with the playful expression “Sigurd…” he was the one with the light hair “and that one is Ivar” I couldn’t help but gasp at the mention of that name, I examined Ivar quickly, his legs were braced together and a stern expression invaded his face, this person was Ivar, THE Ivar, Ivar the boneless, the character I had obsessed about since childhood, the character I would beg my grandpa to talk about on our bedtime stories, now he was in front of me, he was real, I covered the smile that threatened to appear on my face with my hand, things were getting more and more interesting for sure.

“Is something wrong?” Hvitserk asked leaving his spot on the wall and coming closer to me.

“I’m just honored to meet you” I stated quickly looking directly to Ivar’s eyes “that’s all”

“Do you know about us?” Sigurd inquired intrigued by my display of interest.

“Of course she knows" Ivar rolled his eyes at his brother's question, "the old one said the gods sent her, so the question is" he paused "what does she know?” 

All the brothers looked expectantly at me waiting for an answer “Many things, great things” I answered, It was true after all, but I had to be careful of the facts I decided to reveal, even if they saw me as being sent by the gods I couldn’t take risks, I didn’t want them to think I was insane.

“We came here to greet you and to assure you that what mother said was true” Ubbe stated “You are under our protection now so you shouldn’t worry, we’ll send some slaves here to run you a bath and give you proper clothing” he directed his gaze at the bundle of 21st century clothes lying on the floor, a shade of disapproval and confusion danced on his eyes making me feel shy and somehow apologetic “mother wants to speak to you, and after that if you want you can come to the training field with us”

“Oh yes, I’d love to, thank you” I would take anything that could distract my mind from the bunch of memories emerging like water from a fountain threatening to make me lose control of myself.

“Yes Eira” Sigurd smiled “come and see how I kick my brothers’ asses”

“Maybe we’ll get to know each other better like that” Hvitserk winked at me making me roll my eyes.

The four brothers left the room and my eyes met Ivar’s again as he crawled through the entrance, I stayed on my position looking at the infinite nothingness before snapping out of my trance, I got out of the bed and picked up my clothes from the floor, I held them close to my chest and allowed myself to shed a few tears, they were the proof that everything was real, that this was not a dream and that I had not gone insane, I started to empty all of my pockets finding the last traces of my world that had been carried with me on this journey I found my wrist watch, some receipts, useless cash, and the cloth with the runes my brother had gifted to me, I cried a little harder holding the little sack close to my chest, my dear brother, he surely was looking for me but he would never find me, I would never see him again, there was no explanation whatsoever justifying my disappearance, I hoped he wasn’t hurt but my heart knew it was in vain, I was certain he would keep looking for me but all his efforts would be useless.

I cleaned the tears from my face and packed all the stuff I had found on my t-shirt, I then covered the improvised pack with my pants and opening the trunk I had seen last night I put everything inside including my boots, I placed the jacket on top of everything shielding my belongings from anyone’s sight, I needed to find new clothes to fill the remaining space, I didn’t want anyone to find my things, not only they were the last remaining pieces of my previous life but also if I planned to live in this world I needed to blend in with the rest of the people and being caught owning a device that could tell time and money that instead of silver or gold was made of paper would not help my cause at all, In a certain way I felt I was burying a huge part of my life, but if I wanted to go on it was necessary.

I would learn everything I needed to live this life, I would be careful but I would survive, I needed to, and who knows, maybe someday I would understand the reason behind my journey the reason why I had been ripped away from home.


	4. Chapter III: The task

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter is not really dynamic but it was necessary in order to actually give a start to Eira's relationship with the Ragnarssons so I still hope you like it and leave comments with your opinions, I always answer to them and also I appreciate them a lot, so let's get into the chapter ;)

Some slave girls entered my room with a wooden bathtub and warm water, they came to me and took off my clothes, I was never the one to be ashamed of nudity but still I tried to cover myself by crossing my arms around me, to be honest it was quite uncomfortable to be completely naked in front of strangers, as soon as I got into the warm water my muscles started to relax, I closed my eyes and suddenly I felt a wet cloth being rubbed over my arms, I opened my eyes and saw that one of the girls was ready to help me with my bath but I quickly took the cloth from her hands and signaled her and the others that I would do it by myself, maybe I was in the 9th century but that didn’t mean I would leave all the values I had been raised with behind, if I could do something by myself then I would do it, I felt no need to be served.

I got off the tub when the water started to get cold, I took the night dress from the floor and covered my body with it, the slaves hurried to take the tub out of the room, I sat on the bed still naked wondering if I should go out dressed only on my night gown when a slave I already knew entered through the door with clothes on her hands.

“Hello Ylva” I greeted, she simply nodded with a smile on her face, she got closer and lied the clothes on the bed, after that she took my hand and helped me to stand on my feet “So, what comes first?” I inquired glancing at the clothes, Ylva took the night gown I had been covering myself with and tossed it away, she started to hand me piece by piece of the new attire as I put them on, first there was a linen tunic with long sleeves very similar to the one I had used to sleep, then there was a wool dress of a beautiful deep blue color decorated with the most delicate embroidery I had ever seen, the dress covered the tunic completely and had a kind of princess cut so it got tighter at the waist making it look smaller, I couldn´t say I didn’t appreciate that detail, after having the dress on Ylva put a belt around me, it was wide enough to cover the space between the base of my breasts and the top of my hips, it was like one of those waist trainers people from my time are obsessed with but it wasn’t by far as uncomfortable, I realized it gave me a quite more feminine or delicate figure and once again I wouldn’t complain about it. The shoes where really simple in comparison just a pair of black flats and I was good to go, well except that my hair was a mess so Ylva offered her help which was great because the only thing I could manage to do was to put my hair into a pony tail and I didn’t think that would be the appropriate hairdo to meet the queen, maybe later on I would ask Ylva to teach me to braid hair, after all I felt that keeping myself busy was the best I could do for my sanity's sake, and besides, I didn't want to depend on Ylva (or on anyone for that matter) to help me with the most mundane of tasks when I could learn to do it myself.

I thanked Ylva when she was done and followed her directions toward the place where the queen was waiting for me. I arrived to the room I had been taken to the night before, only that this time except for the queen it was empty. Queen Aslaug was sitting at the side of the head of the central table which seemed a little weird for me but I didn’t let it show, she signaled me to take the seat in front of her and when I did she started to speak.

“I hope you slept well last night” I couldn’t tell if she was being honest or just polite, I could see she was a little ambiguous but I needed to get on her good side so I wasn’t going to think about her nature too deeply “I see the servants provided you with some new clothes, how do you like them?”

“Of course I slept well last night” I smiled “the room was really comfortable, and I’m really thankful for the dress, it is precious and the fit is perfect” I was honestly thankful to the queen, even to the seer, they were unknowingly making this situation a whole lot easier to handle.

“I’m happy to hear that” in that moment some servants appeared leaving food, plates and ale on the table “please eat with me, my sons are getting ready to train and I would hate to eat by myself” my stomach answered for me, as soon as I saw the food it growled so loudly that the queen could hear it, she laughed at it taking a sip of her ale “I’m glad I invited you for breakfast” she mentioned.

As soon as we were finished eating the queen spoke again.

“You will need more dresses child, you are our guest and I would hate if your attire doesn’t reflect how glad we are about you staying here” Her voice was soft yet commanding, as I said before I knew I could feel her royal like aura even when she wasn’t acting like the queen “having you look like any other girl in Kattegat simply wouldn’t do”  
“I’m immensely thankful for your kindness but queen Aslaug” I spoke “I would hate if I didn’t earn all of the things you are giving to me, there must be something I can do to pay for what you are doing” dad had always taught me that nothing comes for free and that kindness had to be paid with kindness, his words still resonated in my head, besides I didn’t want to take more advantage of the whole ‘sent by the gods’ situation, if the queen and her family were letting me stay here I would pay them as any other person would do.

“I’m sure any other person would just take without a second thought, it’s good that you are different, good and interesting…” her train of thought seemed to have parted to a different place when she quickly snapped back to reality “I already have servants who take care of almost everything but I could use your help with something else”  
“Anything, just tell me what to do” it was almost embarrassing how much I needed to occupy my mind with some other thing than the thoughts of what was happening with my family back on my time.  
“How old are you?” she inquired bluntly examining me up and down with critical eyes.

“I’m twenty, actually I just turned twenty”

“Then you are perfect for this task, listen well” she stood and came to sit in the chair besides mine, she inclined forward shortening the distance between us, her voice was now a whisper so I reflected her actions in order to listen to what she had to say “I want you to keep my sons company… no, not like that” she answered quickly at my wide eyed expression “You are Ivar’s age so I think you could get along with all of my sons, the thing is I know they tend to be complicated and fight between each other, specially Ivar and Sigurd they usually go too far with their fights” the sigh she left out showed me just how tired and used she was to the whole situation “I can’t do anything about it but you… you don’t have any type of history with them so that makes you perfect to try and calm them down a little, maybe to even befriend them, who knows, I’m worried they might end up hating each other one day”

“So that’s what I have to do? Getting along with your sons?”

“Don’t think it will be an easy task, they have quite the temper especially Ivar, he can be a little complicated sometimes” she added but in all honesty if this was what she wanted me to do I would do it.

“I will gladly do it, don’t worry too much” I smiled “I grew up with an older brother, I have some experience”

“Well then, go find them, they have to be training by now” she stood from the table and walked away “oh and good luck” she added looking at me over her shoulder whilst she left the room.

I stayed on my place thinking for a moment, befriending the Ragnarssons couldn’t be so bad, right?

 

With the indications of one of the slaves I finally arrived to the ‘training field’ the brothers where at, the complexity of it all was impressive considering the time we were at, swords, axes, bows, and arrows where the most prominent weapons on display, severe deer heads were placed on one side to practice archery, it wasn’t the most pleasant view but I could understand they were necessary tools, some round pieces of a tree trunk where placed on other side held in the air by a rope, in the middle of it all I could see the four brothers fighting each other, if this was just practice may the gods have mercy on their real enemies on battle, their movements flowed smoothly yet they were precise and dangerous, none of them held back on their attacks and I could see how experienced they were, saying that I was impressed would be an understatement, I had studied medieval combat techniques with my dad and I used to daydream about real life combat, how did the warriors look like, how was their technique like, was the information we had accurate, were our representations of their combats accurate, but the truth was that in fact seeing them fight with my own eyes was far better than any demonstration I had ever seen.

I stood in the middle of it all for a few minutes, they were so focused on their training that they didn’t notice I had arrived already, I could have announced myself maybe clearing my throat or something but I was still so mesmerized I didn’t dare to break the intensity of the moment, Ubbe was the first to notice my presence, he looked behind to where I was pointing an arrow to the deer head a few meters in front of him and without breaking the eye contact between us he made his shot and the arrow hit in between the eyes of the animal with so much precision as if he had been looking at it.

“What do you think?” Ubbe exclaimed opening his arms as to connote greatness still holding the bow.

“Not bad” I replied getting closer to the brothers, now I had the attention of them all.

“You are hard to impress eh?” Ubbe raised his eyebrows, a grin spreading through his face.

“Just a little” I laughed “So what? Am I supposed to just sit here and see you train? Sounds quite boring” I teased.

“You want a show child?” Hvitserk followed along.

“Oh come on don’t call me child, I bet you aren’t that much older than me anyways”

“What do you prefer then, mmm princess maybe ?” he teased walking around me.

“Maybe love?” Ubbe counterattacked getting closer.

“Sweetheart?” Sigurd followed imitating his brother’s actions, even if I knew they were teasing me I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the cheesiness of their nicknames.

“Eira” Ivar’s voice resonated from behind his brothers as they turned to look at him “Her name is Eira” he extended a hand signaling towards me “so you should simply call her that” he stated shrugging his shoulders.

“You are no fun little brother” Hvitserk added “absolutely no fun”

“But he is right” I glanced quickly at Ivar “that’s my name so don’t be cheesy and stick to it”

There was a moment of silence before the five of us erupted into laughter. When we went back to normal Hvitserk picked up a sword throwing it to Ivar who was sitting on a piece of tree trunk, he caught it midair as if it was nothing, Hvitserk took another sword and balancing on his right hand he turned to me “Ok this is the show, who are you going to bet on?” he asked “Ivar” he pointed the sword towards his brother “or me”.

The Ragnarssons kept silent whilst I pretended to think about Hvitserk’s question, actually I knew who I would bet on but I didn’t wanted to give it away immediately. I glanced between the two brothers for a few seconds, once my eyes met Hvitserk’s I smiled and he reflected my action but my eyes left him fast and focused on someone else.

“I choose Ivar” I stated simply, I watched Hvitserk’s smile disappear as a wide grin spread through the youngest face.

“Good choice” Ivar commented before raising his sword and attacking his brother giving me the show that till then I didn’t knew I needed.


	5. Chapter IV: Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Ivar/Eira interaction for you all, I hope you enjoy and as always let me encourage you to leave comments, you have no idea ho happy it makes me to read and answer them, they literally make my day, so without further ado let's get into the story and I'll see you guys in the comment section. :)
> 
> (If there are any spelling or grammar mistakes I will correct them in the morning, don't worry)

A few weeks had already passed since my arrival to Kattegat, actually I was getting used to this place, sometimes it still felt weird but slowly Kattegat was becoming my home, I won’t lie and say that I stopped missing my brother or that I didn’t miss a good cup of coffee in the morning or hot chocolate on a cold day but things were how they were and I had to accept them as they came, I was glad though, I was glad that I was getting used to this new life, even the language started to feel more and more like my own, I didn’t have to stop mid-sentence to look for a word or translate something in my mind, everything just flowed without effort now, it was weird and exciting at the same time, I got used to the routine here waking up quite early compared to my past routine, here I basically transformed into an early bird or something like that, who could have imagine that could happen. 

The brothers were actually a great company and even though Ivar was more reserved and still than the others I could almost see how inside of his mind he was full of plans, ideas, questions, it was fascinating, Hvitserk on the other hand liked to get on my nerves in order to get a reaction from me, that’s how they were and I liked it, they distracted me and made my staying more pleasant that’s why I was so thankful to have met them.

Queen Aslaug was really good to me which I found out was a little odd coming from her, I had heard people talking around and they actually believed that I was somehow sent by the gods not only because the seer had said that but because queen Aslaug treated me so kindly, besides giving me a place to live, food to eat and offering protection she also had invested in many dresses and accessories for me to wear so I could ‘look the part’ as she said, I was sure I was immensely lucky to be treated in such a way.  
It didn’t feel as strange now waking up every morning covered up by furs and listening the fire cracking coming from the hearth of my room, but still, I couldn’t completely let go of my previous life.

I had taken the hobby of exploring Kattegat and its surroundings when I found a small hidden place on the shore far away from all the boats, merchants and people in general, it became my favorite spot, I used to go there when I could escape the Ragnarssons or when queen Aslaug didn’t have me doing something, I would just go there and write little messages with my finger on the sand, they were directed to my dad, to my grandpa and specially to my brother, the messages were always the same, ‘I love you’, ‘I miss you’, ‘I’m fine’, ‘don’t worry’, ‘how are you doing?’, ‘how do you feel?’, just simple questions that I wished could have an answer.

There were some nights when I would dream about certain moments of my past or just about spending time with my family and the moment I woke up in the morning reality hit hard, it felt as if I had fallen asleep inside a moving car and suddenly I was woken up by the car moving out control and going off the road, that was how I felt after having those dreams, those mornings were the most painful ones and made my days a little bit gloom.  
I accept that I would shed some tears from time to time but still I tried to go on, making this new life an eternal mourning was not going to take me anywhere, I knew I had been given a chance to live a good life on this time, so every day I made an effort to find joy and happiness on this new life and every time it got easier thanks in part to those four brothers, man, I was lucky to have them by my side.

Queen Aslaug didn’t give me any tasks other than befriend her sons so I had certain freedom to do what I wanted when I wasn’t with them because let’s be honest, I would not stick to them like glue I needed my own space and they needed it too, sometimes I would stay on the great hall and listen to whatever queen Aslaug wanted to talk about, she would tell me about her father Sigurd the one who killed a dragon and about her mother the great shield maiden, she would also tell me some of the stories of the gods, I really enjoyed those, even though I already knew some of the legends listening the stories from someone who actually grew up with them felt really intimate and wonderful.

When I was not spending time with the queen or the brothers I would continue with my exploring of Kattegat, some days I would go to the market and watch the activities of the people, which items did they buy the most, which products were the most expensive and why, what kind of dresses and fabrics women liked the most… on other days I would see how people farmed their lands, on others I would observe people celebrating not in the great hall but on different places with different music where percussion was more predominant and the feeling was wilder with a little bit more edge compared to what you would listen to at the great hall and I loved the sound of it; people had started to recognize me and accept me, they let me blend in and become just one more of them, I was thankful for that, when people were celebrating I would join them and dance until my legs felt like they were going to give up on me because it felt great, it felt liberating as if my soul was being nurtured by the drums and people’s cheers, on those moments I felt almost ethereal.

I had also developed a friendship with Ylva, the servant, she was not only really nice but I could feel she was authentic, she didn’t talk to me because I was her master, as much as I hated the term she would still use it, she talked to me because she actually wanted to and I appreciated that, she told me that she had been punished several times because sometimes she would actually stand for herself and get into trouble as consequence, that made me like her even more. I would follow Ylva around sometimes, I wanted to see what tasks she had to perform during the day, she would share stories of her life and I would do the same only that I had to adapt mine a little, it was nice having a girl of my age close to me, I hoped our friendship would grow over time, I really liked her.

One day when I was spending my time observing the transactions at the market place as usual Hvitserk appeared out of nowhere, I saw the grin on his face and I knew what he was up to, he, Sigurd and Ubbe seemed to have found a new interest in me, we had gotten close since I arrived here but of course they liked to bicker and tease the hell out of me, when they realized that I wouldn’t fall for their flirting as any other girl would they decided to just keep flirting with me to tease me and get on my nerves, they found my reactions and comments entertaining but sometimes it was just too much to handle, a girl can only survive to a certain amount of cheesiness and sibling competition without wanting to run away and they definitely enjoyed going beyond the line.

Hvitserk had started to make my day a misery full of rainbows, hearts and flowers as soon as he found me so as rational as I was I distracted him and escaped, it was entertaining for me too actually, it was like playing the game of the mouse and the cat, I can't deny that I had my share of fun too.

I found myself in a place I surprisingly hadn’t been before, it was the blacksmith's forge, I recognized one of the blacksmiths who was outside, I would often see him on the celebrations around town, he smiled at me and signaled me to go in, by that time people knew I had taken the habit of going around exploring so they would just let me be, when I entered the forge I found someone who I didn’t expect to be there, it was Ivar, he was so focused sharpening an axe, his hands moved with so much dexterity I could see he was used to the job.

“Are you going to keep standing there or are you going to come in?” he said with his eyes still on the blade, he moved his hand behind his back and brought a little bench like the one he was sitting on to his side, I took it as a signal to sit so I did “Ubbe or Hvitserk?” he asked.

“What?”

“Perhaps Sigurd? He can be annoying” he inquired again to which I repeated my previous question “The one you are hiding from, who is it?” he said raising an eyebrow.

“You know” I answered “I like your brothers until they decide to flirt with me just to annoy me, they do a pretty good job getting on my nerves”

“So it was the three of them?” 

“Just Hvitserk this time” I commented “can I stay? I was ashamed of how my voice came out, I sounded like a little girl asking for a puppy, since when I acted like that?

“Do whatever you want” he answered focusing again on his job.

I just sat there watching him work whilst unconsciously playing with my necklace, a few minutes went by when Ivar stopped suddenly what he was doing and turned to me again startling me a little.

“Can I see it?” he signaled to my necklace, I froze for less than a second before taking it off and handing to him, he examined it for a moment, slowly tracing the lines engraved on  
the pendant. 

“This is gold” it wasn’t a question but still I nodded to him when he focused his eyes on me “And the runes, they are powerful... where did you get this?” he questioned still holding my necklace on his hand.

“My grandfather gave it to me” I said naturally, somehow I didn’t feel uncomfortable sharing information with Ivar “he gifted it to me when I was born, I’ve always had it”

“Your family gave you gifts when you were born?” he asked.

“Just my grandfather, he was special”

“Is that why you always use it?” he had noticed, I didn’t think he had detailed me that much but he had noticed that I never took the necklace off, I was surprised “I guess that’s the reason, is he special to you?” I could see Ivar was genuinely curious so I kept answering.

“Well he raised us, me and my brother I mean, so yes, he is very special to me” I evoked the memories of my grandpa taking Jason and I to bed and telling us stories until we fell asleep, those memories warmed my heart at that moment.

“Why did he raise you? What about your parents?” was it sympathy what I saw on his eyes? I couldn't be sure

“About mother, It’s complicated, and father, well he wasn’t really present, he would travel for months trying to make new discoveries and get recognition, I would only see him for a few days and then he was gone again, it has always been like that” I paused for a second, Ivar’s eye were fixated on me, now I was sure, he felt sympathy “You know Ivar, lately I’ve been wondering if I’ll see father again”

“I do the same” he commented after a short silence “I wonder if father will ever come back”

“He will” I said absentmindedly “He’ll come back and then he’ll leave again and after that… I guess the gods already know what comes next”.

“The gods and you, am I right?” he asked getting closer.

“Don’t make me tell you” I whispered feeling comforted by his proximity.

“I won’t” he said solemnly “I won’t make you tell me anything you don’t want to”

“Thank you Ivar” I smiled “That makes me happy” I could see the ghost of a smile dancing on his lips but he quickly turned his gaze back to my necklace so I wasn’t sure of it “I didn’t knew you were a blacksmith” I changed the topic.

“Why would you… oh right, the gods” he said as if stating the obvious.

“Trust me Ivar” this time it was my turn to get closer to him “what I know doesn’t have to do with the gods, it doesn’t come from them”.

“But still, you know things” he commented handing me back the necklace.

“I may know some things and may not know others” I said looking right on his eyes “my knowledge is relative”

“How much do you know about me and my brothers? That is only if you want to answer” his voice was low, I could feel the curiosity but he still respected my position, I appreciated that, I really did.

“I know a few things” I answered picking my words carefully “your destinies lead you to greatness, each one of you on a different path, it’s really rare to see such accomplishments coming from the same family and the same generation”

“What do you know about me?” his voice was almost a whisper by now, he was nervous it shocked me a little seeing that part of him but I didn’t showed it, he was also expectant so I answered trying once again to pick the right words.

“Only time will tell if what I know about you turns to be true” we were so close by know that it felt as if we were on our own bubble, it was a new feeling but not a bad one, it was curious but I felt warm in his presence “for now I will only tell you this, out of all the Ragnarssons you Ivar are by far the most fascinating”

Silence fell upon us as my words seemed to sink in Ivar’s mind.

“Well, I guess I’ll go back to explore” I said standing up and walking to the entrance.

“Eira” Ivar’s voice was firm making me turn around to face him again, he doubted for a second before talking again “You can come whenever you want” 

Before I could answer he went back to his blacksmith labor, I just smiled to myself and walked out of the forge, it seemed I had found a new favorite hiding spot in town and I knew I wasn't going to lose the smile on my face for the rest of the day.


	6. Chapter V: Missing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a Jason POV chapter, back in the 21st century just to give you a look at how close the siblings actually are and a big piece of information that's going to have certain influence in the future.
> 
> As always please tell me if you like it, give me feedback, it makes me really happy and gives me more energy to keep writing.

People disappear all the time, it’s usual to hear about teens who run away from home, little children who get lost and are nowhere to be found, even about mothers who leave their homes with no apparent reason and never go back, but eventually most of those people are found, after all, disappearances often have explanations… well, except… except for when they don’t.

My sister and I would often obsess over unsolved real life mysteries, I remember sometimes we would stay up all night watching documentaries, finding information about a certain case and getting to our own conclusions, all of it was fun specially when we came out with different theories and tried to convince each other that we were right, it was really amusing seeing Grace’s face contour in surprise when I caught a detail she didn’t and it was heartwarming to see the smile on her face when she could convince me that her theory made more sense than mine; all those nights spent like that seemed to have been long gone as if they were part of a distant and almost blurry past but the memories were still so vivid in my mind that my heart sank a little bit more every time I recalled the simplest of moments I had spent with her, life was surely hitting me in the face in this exact moment because this time it wasn’t Grace and I trying to figure out a mystery, this time she and her whereabouts were the mystery and I had been left alone to figure it out.

My mind goes back at the exact moment Grace disappeared, everything was normal during the celebrations, we were watching the big bonfire being lit up, people had started to dance and cheer again but at the next moment my sister’s hand wasn’t on mine anymore, I could hear her calling my name but the crowd was so dense and excited I couldn’t go pass them, her voice stopped calling for me and when I finally made my way to the place she should have been at, she was nowhere to be seen, I had stayed up looking for her during the rest of the night, people were too deep into the celebration to serve of any help, when the sun rose up in the sky I continued my search there were drunk bodies sleeping all over the camp, I looked everywhere including people’s tents, the improvised parking lot and the camp’s surroundings but found nothing, it was as if my sister had disappeared into thin air, no clues, no traces, no anything, as if earth itself had swallowed her, she, my best friend, my annoying little girl, my very own blood and soul, she was gone.

Dad and I got into a fight again a week after Grace’s disappearance when he decided to just give up our search and keep going with his job, the actual reason we had gotten to Denmark in first place, but I couldn’t just accept it, I needed to know what had happened.

“Just let the police do their job Jason” he raised his voice at me “She’s gone, and we will not find her any faster just because you insist on participate”

“She’s my sister, I need to know why and I’m not going to sit around just waiting for answers” I stood up and found myself right in front of him “I’m going to find my own answers”

“Stop tormenting yourself” he got even closer to my face “We will know about her when the time is right, for now let’s just wait”

“I don’t care if you want to pretend nothing happened, go back to your job I’m not asking you to help me, go on with your excavations and stuff, but answer this to me dad” I paused to look at him right in the eye “what use does it have to be able to trace bits and pieces of civilizations from centuries ago when you can’t even find a trace or hint about your own daughter?” 

I walked away, I knew that if we kept arguing we would bring up hurtful things to the surface and that could only make things worse and that was the last thing I wanted to happen in this exact moment.

 

I went downstairs ready to go out of the inn and wander some more when the woman who had talked to me about the celebration in the woods entered through the door, she looked at me with concern and pity and without saying a word she grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me to the kitchen at the back of the inn.

“What is this all about? What are you…” the woman put a finger on his lips and signaled me to sit on one of the chairs that were in the place as she sat on a chair in front of me.  
“Are you one of those who think that everything is rational and logical and that nothing else exists outside from that?” she whispered leaning closer to me. 

“What? What is all of this about?” I was about to stand up but she held me by the arm and made me sit again.

“Answer me boy” Her voice even if barely above a whisper was stern and her expression serious.

“No, I believe that there are things that scape logic” I answered honestly surprising myself, usually Grace was the one to accept the unknown as something natural, I was a little more rigid in that aspect, she was also the one who believed that there was something bigger and more powerful that could not be easily explained, for being the daughter of an academic her mind was pretty wild, till that moment I didn’t knew her beliefs had started to have influence in me “I know that not everything in this world is rational but why do you ask?”

“There are some legends, tales if you want to call them like that I think they can explain why your sister is gone” the look in her eyes was pleading, almost like she was asking for me to believe in her and not send her to a psychiatrist.

“Then tell me” At this point I would accept anything that was valid enough to explain what had happened.

“First you tell me, you said it was her birthday, exactly when was she born?”

“On May the first, right at Midnight, that’s why we went to the woods that night, she had dreamt about being on an authentic May Eve celebration since I can remember, we have celebrated Beltane and even Walpurgis Nacht a couple of times on the countries we visited on our trips but never May Eve, she was ecstatic about finally getting to celebrate it” I couldn’t help myself but get into detail, by doing that I felt Grace was closer tome somehow, it gave me comfort.

“So pagan festivities are not a rare thing for you?”

“Not at all” I answered “Sometimes Grace would say that paganism had the purest beliefs, she thought that it was the most authentic practice, that it was innate and not actually taught like other religions”

“Your sister is wise then, did you do anything else that night? Something besides celebrating?”

“I gave her a present, a set of runes, I knew she would like them, she had been way more interested in the Norse civilization and beliefs than in others, I told her to take three runes out of the pouch, I joked that I would predict her future” I smiled, those had been the last moments I had spent with her.

“Did she do it? What runes did she take out?” she held my arms, something more deep than simple curiosity danced on her voice but I couldn’t figure out what it was.  
“She did, the runes she got were the one that looks like an M, the one that looks like a cup on its side and the one that looks like a bow, but what does this have to do with anything?” I was getting impatient.

“Ehwaz, Perthro and Othala, so it is transportation, marriage and partnership, prophecy and change and journey, transcendence and influence of the past, yes everything makes sense now” the woman’s face lit up honestly she could have shouted Eureka right there and I wouldn’t have been surprised.

“What makes sense? Would you mind to explain why all of this has to do with Grace?” My voice sounded harsh, I didn’t care I needed answers.

“My boy, it is said that the earth, the whole universe sometimes claim people and take them where they really belong, if the circumstances are proper then it will just happen” she paused “Your sister believed in this things, in this forces and energies, and I can assure you that the runes don’t lie, don’t you see? Everything is in plain sight don’t look for a logic interpretation, the runes say what they are meant to say, transportation, change, journey, transcendence, your sister was claimed by these energies, by these forces, call them gods, call them however you like, she was taken to the place she’s meant to be, to the place she actually belongs to”

“But my sister belongs by my side, what you are saying makes no sense” I didn’t want to listen, if she was missing we could still find her but if this woman was right then it meant I would not see my sister again.

“No sense? You don’t want to see things by what they are, she was born at the moment the all father gave his last breath, out of all the pantheons and possible gods she preferred ours, out of all the celebrations on the same date you have been to it was this one where things happened differently, out all the possible runic combinations she could have gotten she got the runes that make more sense and reveal the truth, she was claimed by something superior, something bigger, she’s not here anymore”

I stood up losing my temper, that could not be true, it was not real, those where only legends, tales that made no sense.

“Then prove it, prove that what you say is true, prove to me that these things are real” I raised my voice, I was not going to believe that, I still wanted to hold my little sister one more time.

“It cannot be proved” she stood up and walked towards the door apparently not affected by my mood changes “Unless you join us on our next big festivity” she paused and looked back at me “If you want prove of what I said then you shall join us on winternights, the roots of the world itself become more flexible at that time” that being said she left the kitchen without turning back.

I stood there for a few more minutes, I didn’t want to believe my sister was actually gone, I wanted to believe I would see her again but as my mind went back on the words of the woman even if my brain told me she was only telling tales there was something deep inside of me that believed her, a primitive and almost wild feeling that wanted to take over me and shouted from my insides that maybe the woman was right.


	7. Chapter VI: Hands and maps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I got the inspiration for this chapter from a particular song, you will find out which one if you keep reading.  
> As always I hope you enjoy and thank you so much for coming here and give my story a chance, it means the world to me.

The days passed by and thinking I had seen as much of Kattegat as I could I started to follow Ylva and other people around more often, Ylva and the villagers’ reactions when I said I wanted to learn how to do their daily activities where priceless, they all insisted that I was a guest of the queen, the queen's ward as they had started to refer to me and that I should not occupy myself with what they called mundane activities, even if the gap between royalty and commoners in Viking society was much smaller than in other parts of the world there was still the thought that certain activities were meant to be performed only by slaves or commoners, of course that as stubborn as I was I didn’t pay attention to it and convince the people to let me interact and learn from them so now I knew how to sew, how to braid hair in their immensely complicated patterns (even though I was still slow at it), feed the animals and more, I went with Ylva to wash clothes every time I could and I would spend my time in the kitchens learning to prepare their dishes step by step, I tried to occupy my days as much as I could without neglecting the queen or my main task according to her: the Ragnarssons.

My favorite person to stick around to was the healer, she was a middle aged woman with a knowledge so wide I couldn’t help but being fascinated by her, she had started to teach me just the basic stuff because being honest I knew I wouldn’t be able to come close to her in many aspects but I was glad that she had made me the honor to spare sometime and teach me a few things and because my gracious friends were full of testosterone and prone to fighting thus getting hurt, her teachings came in handy.

Queen Aslaug and I were sitting at the great hall just talking when the doors opened and a little angry Hvitserk stepped inside.  
“What is with that mood?” the queen asked.

The blonde guy only came to sit beside us and put his hands on his lap, that’s when I noticed that he was bleeding, the crimson substance covered his hand apparently coming from a wound on his palm “I got distracted while hunting mother, it is nothing” he said standing to fill a curved horn with Ale.

“I can help with that if you want” I said signaling to his hand “The healer taught me what to do”

“You have been learning from the healer?” Hvitserk asked almost impressed.

“Yes my darling” I bickered “Contrary to what you may believe you are not at the center of my world.

“That’s disappointing” he answered following my game “I was starting to think I was”

Aslaug chuckled behind us, it seemed that seeing us bicker around entertained her, that made me feel warm on the inside I was achieving what she wanted me to but not by duty but because I actually liked and cared about her sons.

“So, what do you say?” I inquired.

“Alright, tend to me little one” he said winking at me, I just rolled my eyes and walked to the kitchen where I kept all the herbs and things I needed.

I went back to the hall with a handful of fresh plants and herbs, a mortar and pestle, a recipient with water and a piece of cloth. I sat in front of Hvitserk and started to mince and mix the plants in the mortar adding a little bit of water when needed to create a paste-like substance, I didn’t realize when it happened but I surprised myself mumbling along to a song I had not listened to in ages, I was so focused on making a prefect mixture that I didn’t catch the way Hvitserk was looking at me; when I finished mincing a rich green poultice was left on the mortar, still mumbling the song to myself and without looking up I took Hvitserk’s hand letting it rest on my lap with his palm upwards, I ripped the piece of cloth I had brought in two parts and used one of them along with the remaining water to cleanse the wound, after cleansing I took his hand into one of mine and carefully brought it closer to me, I started to apply the poultice directly on the wound and when all was nicely covered I took the remaining part of the cloth and bandaged his hand as I had learned not from the healer but from the nurses who tended to the numerous wounds I got as a child by playing with my brother, I made sure that the bandage wasn’t too tight and satisfied with my job I returned Hvitserk’s hand back to his lap.

I looked up and saw him smiling at me, it was a genuine smile not one of those smirks of his when he was planning to tease me.

“What?” I asked confused by his expression “Do I have something on my face?”

“No, no it’s just that” he paused for a second “you were singing” he smiled and I blushed at the realization that my mumbling hadn’t gone as unnoticeable as I thought “what was that song about? I’ve never heard it before”

“Do you really want to know?” I asked still shy.

“Yes, tell me” he encouraged me and moved his chair closer to mine.

“It’s about a boy and a princess” I began to tell remembering the heartwarming sequence of the movie the song belonged to. “The princess name was Jasmine and the boy was pretending to be a prince so he could get close to her because he had fallen in love” I was surprised at how focused Hvitserk was as I told him the story and it had a certain fun to it, not every day you could get to tell a Disney story to a Viking prince. “The boy convinced the princess to go with him to see the world, he knew that in spite of being immensely rich and living at a really important place for business and trade she had not seen the wonders and marvelous places this world has to offer, she accepted and went with him, they visited numerous lands, they went to a place with not even one mountain at sight, where there was only warm sand covering it all as far as the sight could reach, deeper into that place they saw enormous pyramids, they were huge and made of stone, they also saw a great sphinx of a similar size also made of stone”

“Sphinx?” Hvitserk inquired pronouncing the word with a certain accent making me smile at his effort.

“A creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human” I explained, he nodded and I continued with the story “They also went to a place where people long ago used to believe in many gods and saw all the wonderful marble statues and temples they had built for their deities during their golden times, the boy tells the princess that he can show her the world wonder by wonder, he is giving her the chance to admire things from a new perspective, a new point of view and, she realizes how much she had been missing out until then, until he showed her the world” I finished and let the story sink in Hvitserk’s mind, after a moment of silence he spoke again.

“And all those places he takes her to, do they actually exist?”

I leaned closer to him “Of course they exist” I replied “I have been to those places myself” I added in a whisper, Hvitserk’s eyes opened wide in surprise and excitement.

“Tell me more” I couldn’t deny his request, his expression was like the one from a kid who wakes up to find Christmas presents under the tree, besides I wanted to talk about it, I knew he would see a whole new world for him with his own eyes one day and I wanted to tell him about my trips perhaps to encourage him to go on his own when the time was right.

I smiled and moved to sit by his side, I took his healthy hand making the palm face upwards.

“Imagine your palm is the whole world” I began tracing an imaginary world map on Hvitserk’s palm with my fore finger “this part has not yet been properly discovered” I said covering the part of the invisible map where the continent of America was supposed to be “This is where we are right now, and this is the route to get to England which is right here” I followed pointing at Kattegat, then tracing a line and encircling the invisible England on his palm.

“What about the rest?” Hvitserk inquired with sparkling eyes, he almost reminded me to myself back when dad or grandpa were planning to take us to a different country, it was nice to know that even in the time period I found myself in I could still sympathize and connect with people through my own passions.

“All of this is basically the center of the world, the power and the richness are here” I said drawing a circle around what should have been Europe “The well-known kingdoms and empires are here but it doesn’t mean that they are the only ones who exist”

“Which kingdoms are you talking about” he asked with his sight fixated on his palm as if by doing so he was going to see the lines I had traced.

“The romans used to call this places Hispania, Frankia, Germania, Italia… that is when they had control over all these lands” I pointed out “Now there are many more” I looked at him with a smile. “There’s the kingdom of France, the kingdom of Germany, the emirate of Córdoba, kingdom of Oviedo and Leon, kingdom of Italy, principality of Benevento, the east roman empire, and so many other wonderful lands” I had taken a liking to cartography along with history and geography whilst growing up so I was able to name all this places and remember their locations and oh gods I was grateful for it, knowing where you stand in history often times can mean an advantage and by being in Kattegat during the heat of the Viking age I felt that my knowledge was in my favor more than ever before.  
“How do we get there?” Hvitserk turned to me “How do we get to all these lands?”

“Flying obviously” I teased and Hvitserk gave me a soft punch in the arm along with a rolling of his eyes, oh gods if only he knew that humans will fly someday… “If you take the same route you take to get to England but go south you’ll find these lands but if you want to go further you may have to cross the ocean until you can enter the Mediterranean, there are wonderful lands with roaring civilizations there, you may even get to see the pyramids the boy and the princess visited…”

“The pyramids and much more” Hvitserk interrupted me with a voice full of determination.

“I am sure of it” I smiled genuinely, I knew he would get to those places, I knew it was his destiny and I knew he was more than capable of fulfilling the fate that awaited for him, I was just trying to give him the first bit of encouragement to do so. “When you go there make sure to bring me a gift when you come back, after all I was the one who told you about these lands” I joked, Hvitserk laughed at my comment and held my hand for a second witch which I felt was a silent way of thanking me for sharing the information.

“Well, now take care of your hand” I said changing the mood completely and starting to gather all the things I had brought to heal him “and you won’t train tomorrow, your hand needs some rest” and before he could complain I added “I won’t hear a word about it, if I see you training I’ll hit you with this pestle until you bleed” I said raising the pestle a little bit to make my point clear

“You can’t make me bleed using a kitchen tool” he laughed at my absurd threat.

“I can if I hit hard enough” I replied with a wink and walking to the kitchen, as I got farther I heard him shout.

“You’ll just have to heal me again and sing some more!” I rolled my eyes at his comment but laughed anyways, how is that he had a comeback for everything I said?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you enjoy this chaper?  
> I've got a few questions if you want to answer them:  
> 1\. What do you think Hvitserk will do with the information Eira gave to him? what do you think it's on his mind?  
> 2\. Which relationships between Eira and the Ragnarssons do you want to see/are excited to see develop the most?


	8. Chapter VII: Punished

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I've taken too long to update this time but the semester is coming to an end and college is getting more hectic than ever, I apologize for making you wait but still I hope you enjoy this new chaper and leave your comments, it makes me really happy to read them. Without further ado here's the chapter.

I was walking around the borders of the woods when I saw a plant that I knew from the books back home and that came really in handy for a little something I was preparing using the techniques the healer had been teaching me, the day had started to transition into night and the moon already stood up high in the sky so I decided that I would go back the next day, besides I found myself hungry and cold and the sight of the great hall seemed way more inviting than the woods, so I turned around and made my way to the building anticipating the warmth and the happy chatter of the few people I knew would be there.

When I opened the doors of the great hall I allowed myself to close my eyes and enjoy the warmth of the place surrounding me and wrapping me into a cozy ambience, I smiled at the sensation of the cold leaving my body, I opened my eyes and scanned the hall looking for a place to sit when I felt an arm around my shoulders, I turned around and found Ubbe smiling down at me, Hvitserk and Sigurd where entering the place right behind him.

“Let’s sit close to the fire” he spoke and began to walk with his arm still around my shoulders making me follow him.

“Who said I wanted to sit with you?” I joked whilst placing my arm around his waist, Ubbe was like the calm in the middle of the storm, and even if he wasn’t as playful as Hvitserk I still liked to bicker around him.

“Oh, do you think you have a choice?” his voice was low and threatening but I knew he was just playing along so I went with the flow.

“Do I?” I inquired with the best puppy eyes I could find myself capable off, needless to say I sucked at doing puppy eyes.

“Not at all” he replied simply, and placing both of his hands on my shoulders he made me sit on one of the benches as he and his brothers occupied the places in front and next to me, I smiled at him rolling my eye at his actions, he was such a big brother.

I stood up and took the jar-like recipient that was placed on the table filled to the top with ale and proceed to fill some cups for me and the Ragnarssons, the cups here looked more like mugs than actual glasses, generally they were made of well-polished horns and usually had a wooden bottom or they could be entirely made of wood, honestly given the tools available at this time the craft and precision was something to admire.

“Oh look at you being such a good woman” Hvitserk cooed taking his cup and drinking so fast as if someone was about to steal the ale from him, would he ever let me live?

“Keep bothering me and I swear I’ll hit you with this jar” I raised the recipient that was still on my hand to make my point clear.

“There you go, threatening me with kitchen tools again” he laughed.

“I need to keep the good habits alive don’t I?” I winked at him and sat again.

I saw Ivar exiting the back of the great hall where the rooms where and signaled him to come sit with us, the slaves had started to serve us some food when he came to sit by my side, I filled another cup with ale and placed it in front of him, he nodded in a gesture I interpreted as a ‘thank you’ and proceed to eat.

“Think about it Eira” Hvitserk spoke gaining our attention, a piece of chicken on his hand while he downed his ale for the second time that evening “you and I are meant to be”

“What is that nonsense?” I laughed followed by Sigurd and Ubbe “did the ale affected you already?”

“Not at all my darling” he took a bite of the chicken and continued “I’m telling you think about it, you tend to me, heal my wounds, pour ale in my cup, you sing and tell me stories” he balanced the chicken piece on his hand from side to side whilst he enumerated the things I had done for him, it was quite amusing to see and I sipped some of my ale trying to not erupt into laughter “You and I are just a matter of time my sweet Eira”

“Did someone hit you on the head or something?” Sigurd asked laughing at his brother.

Hvitserk dismissed the comment with a wave of his hand “Be my wife, Hvitserk and Eira, sounds good ah?” I could recognize the joking tone on his voice, it seemed that I was the victim of his playfulness for the night, I assumed it was because I didn’t take him as seriously as others did and I just went with the flow, it was surprising but our sense of humor was quite similar so I enjoyed my time with him.

“You are insane” Ubbe shook his head, a small smile playing on his face giving away he was having fun with his brother’s nonsense.

“It doesn’t sound good at all” I laughed.

“There’s no way you can get that lucky” Ivar commented surprising all of us.

“And why is that little brother?” Hvitserk inquired leaning on the table so he could seem more threatening towards Ivar which didn’t work at all.

“She’s basically sent by the gods and she actually has a brain, you two are no match” Ivar took a sip of his ale and I could see him smirking behind his cup.

“You just broke my heart” Hvitserk gasped.

“He just brought you back to earth” I commented and Hvitserk glared at me, the table was silent for a moment before we all erupted in a loud laughter, I could not remember the last time I had laugh like that, even whit Jason the mood wasn’t like this, it made me think of the Ragnarssons as family even if a little part of me felt guilty for that.

“Why don’t you play something Sigurd” I said signaling at his instrument with a nod of my head.

“Really?” he asked.

“Of course” I replied “I love listening to your music” I said with a smile “you are quite good”

Sigurd gave me a genuine smile and positioned himself so he could start to play, in a matter of seconds the hall was filled with a sweet melody, I knew that by the Viking standards a male musician wasn’t regarded as highly as you would expect but Sigurd was just so talented that I couldn’t care less about the Viking ways, I just wanted to keep listening to him playing for as long as I could, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to relax absorbing the sweet music Sigurd created and thought to myself that if we weren’t in Scandinavia at this moment I could have seen Sigurd as a son of Apollo, I felt like the god himself would be glad to sit in this hall drinking ale instead of nectar whilst listening to the enchanting melodies the Ragnarsson was able to create.

~~~

I dressed myself as comfortable as I could, it was a wonderful day outside and I was ready to gather some plants and herbs from the limit of the woods so I could continue with pursuing my newfound interest in herbalism, the Ragnarssons had gone training before I woke up so I had the rest of the morning to myself, I stepped out of my room and went to greet the queen briefly before going out , she smiled at me when I told her about my plans for the morning and wished me luck in finding what I needed, I thanked her and smiled back before making my way to the kitchens.

I found precisely the person I was looking for, Ylva was focused on cleaning the floors, I creeped behind her taking advantage of her distracted stage and with a loud ‘boo’ I startled the poor girl who shouted on a very high pitch before standing up to slap my shoulder, I laughed wholeheartedly at her reaction, I liked the way she behaved around me, no other slave would raise a hand to me, not even joking but Ylva was just so easygoing and we connected in an way so interesting that I had told her to treat me as an equal, I saw her as a friend and even if she had been wary at the beginning now she was more than comfortable around me but of course we knew how to keep the image of master/slave when we were in public, we doubted that any would approve of a slave girl treating the queen’s ward as an equal, I wished I could change that, but centuries would have to pass until that change was considered possible.

“Do you want to kill me?” She complained letting out a sort of laugh mixed with a sigh.

“Don’t be dramatic” I laughed shaking my head “It’s time to go” I happily exclaimed walking behind Ylva and taking two baskets offering one to her “We have a great day ahead of us”

“We are only going to pick some herbs” she rolled her eyes taking the basket from my hand and walking outside.

“Come on, don’t be a party pooper, it’s all about perspective”

“A party what?” Ylva asked confused at my choice of words.

“Nothing, keep walking, I’m sure the queen won’t like it if I keep you occupied for a long time” I dismissed Ylva’s question and walked ahead of her excited to get to the borders of the woods.

I was marveled at the great variety of herbs and flowers this land had to offer, I found very useful ingredients, there was everything from chamomile to peppermint, feverfew, basil, lavender and lemon balm, everything was within the reach of our hands, we only had to pay attention at the place’s flora and we could spot the useful herbs easily, it was of great help that the healer had been showing me the plants and their uses and how to distinguish them from one another or I could have been more than clueless trying to find a specific plant in the middle of the greenery that surrounded me.

The reason I had insisted to go to that exact place close to the woods was because of a very specific plant that even as a 21st century girl I knew was immensely useful, I spotted the bright orange flowers and I rushed to fill a not so small space inside my basket with them, Calendula was a wonderful as well as beautiful plant, it’s properties ranged from wound healing to being an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory, it helped to improve blood pressure, helped with balancing menstrual cycles, and by experience I knew it helped a lot with relieving muscle pain, the bright colored flowers were indeed a wonder, I already had thought about a very specific use for them and I had all the ingredients ready to put my hands to work, I couldn’t wait to see if the results were favorable.

“Eira” Ylva exclaimed from the middle of some bushes a few meters away from me “There are some berries right there” she pointed to another bush a little deeper into the woods but still at a safe distance “do you want me to pick up some? We can eat them!”

“Alright go!” I shouted back “there are more uses to them than just eating you know!” I teased her.

“I can’t listen, I’m too hungry!” she dismissed my comment with a movement of her hand and walked towards the berries.

“Careful of where you step on!” I warned her as I saw her get on her knees to pick the berries and disappearing behind a bigger bush, the last thing I wanted was for Ylva to get hurt.

I distracted myself making a mental list of the herbs we had picked up for the day, I was quite happy that the supplies at my disposal were growing in quantity, my concentration was suddenly broken by a loud terrified shout, I looked up from the baskets and saw Ylva pale as paper using the tree behind her as support to keep herself on her feet, her eyes were wide open in shock, I examined the scene looking for what could have cause her to scream when my eyes landed on the arrow sticking out of the tree, the arrow was right at the side of her head and I could see a thin trail of blood falling along her cheek.

Before I could take a step to where she was a robust man appeared taking the arrow from the tree and grabbing Ylva by her elbow, he looked at me, choleric, his breathing was heavy and the grip he had on my friend seemed almost bone-breaking, he walked towards me never letting Ylva go, anger coloring his every feature and I couldn’t understand why.

“Is this your thrall?” he asked, his voice was raspy and loud as if he had never known the meaning of the term calm.

“Yes she is, and you almost kill her!” I exclaimed examining the bow and the quiver that hanged from his shoulders.

“She stood in the way!” he shouted, rage evident in his voice “I had the deer right in front of me but this stupid thrall had to appear out of nowhere and ruin it all!” he shook Ylva from side to side as if she was a rag doll, the grip on her only seemed to get harder.

“And who said you could hunt here? We are not deep enough into the woods for you to hunt!” I raised my voice, this man was plain rude and disgusting.

“A woman won’t tell me where I can or cannot hunt, I had my deer and I lost it because of this slave and she has to pay!”

“Release her” I stood in front of him not minding if he was two heads taller than me.

“What?” he asked in disbelief “She needs to pay, I lost my dinner”

“She did nothing wrong, she was just picking some berries” I kept my eyes fixated in his, there was no way I would let him harm Ylva.

“I lost the deer, someone has to pay” This man for sure had a thick skull, he was more stubborn than a mule!

“Alright then” I tilted my head still maintaining the eye contact “she’s my slave, she followed what I said, punish me instead”

Ylva’s eyes got even wider if possible “No!” she exclaimed “it was my fault punish me, punish me!”

“Shut up thrall, don’t you interrupt your master” I stopped her, my voice was stern and authoritarian, I couldn’t look at her or else I knew I would not be able to pronounce such bitter words “I already told you” I said to the man “she’s not responsible, she follows what I say so punish me instead”

“Alright then” the man smirked in the creepiest way possible, he released Ylva from his grip and her legs gave up sending her to the ground, maybe it was the shock of it all but I could see her trembling slightly, I must have gotten too distracted analyzing Ylva’s state so I didn’t notice when the man put his foot behind my knees making me fall to the ground, I put my hands in front of me for support and the man used the chance to lock my head with his arm so I couldn’t move an inch, the first impact came as a surprise and it was followed by another one and another one and the sequence continued, the bastard was hitting me in the back using the same arrow he had shot towards Ylva, he kept an steady rhythm with each blow and I didn’t need to see his face to know what kind of sick expression colored his features, the only thing I could do was scream and cry, almost growl, Ylva was repeating my actions she sounded desperate, like a wounded animal howling, asking for help.

I curled my fingers in the ground waiting for the next blow when everything stopped, the man let out a pained scream and his arm loosened the grip he had around me, I impacted with the ground as soon as his arm left my head, I was sobbing, I couldn’t breathe properly and the pure rage and shock were too much for me, I could feel my blood boiling inside of me and all I wanted was for the earth to open and swallow the man into its depts.

“What do you think you are doing?!” I could recognize that voice anywhere, but where it had always been calm and tender towards me it was filled with anger and venom towards the man.

“Who do you think you are to interrupt me when I’m punishing this woman?!” the man shouted back, his anger was even more intense than before.

“I am the prince of Kattegat” Ubbe’s voice was low and dark, I shivered at his tone “And that woman is the queens ward, you have no right over her, what makes you think you can punish her?”

“I lost a deer because of that thrall” the man seemed to reflect on the consequences of angering one of the princes, his voice was lower and almost pleading “and the woman said that the actions of the slave were her responsibility, someone had to pay, I lost a deer, I lost my food”

“You should know this place is not meant for hunting, if you want to hunt go deeper into the woods or to the mountains, this is not the right place, now leave, this case will be brought to the queen” Ubbe’s voice was stern and full of authority, everyone knew the borders of the woods were no hunting spot, women, children, slaves would be in danger if it was the case, the man seemed to not care for any of that or for the punishment that he could face for hitting a free woman so brutally, he grunted an apology and turned around disappearing into the woods.

“Eira, are you alright?” Ubbe crouched in front of me, his voice was calm and tender again as if talking to a wounded animal, which of course wasn’t that far from reality, I could see the anger moving behind his eyes, he raised a hand to my face cleaning the few tears that were still falling from my eyes “It’s alright, I’m here” he cooed, I couldn’t control myself, my body began to shake again and the crying came back I hid my face in Ubbe’s chess and began to cry like a baby, I wrapped my arms around him holding him tight, he seemed to froze for a second but then he placed a hand on the back of my head and the other around my waist, he held me and murmured comforting words to my ear until I was calm enough to behave as a proper human being, after the sobbing stopped I felt at ease again as an immense sense of gratitude towards Ubbe took place in my heart.

“Let’s go to the great hall, can you walk?” his concerned was something I pretty much appreciated at that moment, I nodded and with his help I rose to my feet again.

“How are you? How’s your arm?” I asked Ylva in a whisper, the poor girl was still paper pale “we need to heal that” I pointed to the dry blood on her cheek, she could not drive herself to say anything just yet but she grabbed my hand in hers and squeezed it tightly, I was relieved to see that other than the shock there was nothing else wrong with her.

Walking through Kattegat I felt the people gazing towards us, I couldn’t blame them, but it was just when we arrived to the great hall that I felt overwhelmed, it was one of those rare occasions where the queen and all of her sons aside from Ubbe where reunited sitting at the same table, it seemed that Ivar and Sigurd where arguing about something which was an awfully common scene to witness. Everything stopped as Ubbe, Ylva and I approached the table, their eyes widened in surprise at my state, they looked from Ylva to Ubbe and then to me studying each of us, I was quite the sight I should say, my hair was a complete mess, my dress was dirty with grass and mud, my eyes were red and my face was puffy for all the crying, I didn’t say a word and just sat at the table between Ivar and Sigurd not daring to make eye contact with anyone.

Ivar’s hand slowly made his way to mine and held it lightly expecting some sort of gesture signaling I was fine, I squeezed his hand gently and it seemed to calm him down, Hvitserk came to crouch in front of me and moved the hair that covered my face out of the way, I could see a mixture of anger and worry dancing on his eyes as he looked at the dry tears on my cheeks, Sigurd tried to comfort me patting my back but I immediately hissed at the contact, startling him.

Queen Aslaug was the first to break the silence “Ubbe what has happened?”

“She got whipped” he answered.

“What?” the three other brothers spoke at the unison, Hvitserk and Sigurd stood up shielding me as if that could fix the harm that had already been done.

“A weird man” Ubbe spoke “It seems he was hunting at the borders of the woods and he lost the chance to shot a deer because of Eira’s slave so he got mad and demanded that someone had to pay” Ubbe explained simply but I could hear the bitter taste the words left on his mouth.

“What does it have to do with Eira?” Sigurd asked.

“She stood up for the slave, and the man punished her in exchange”

“Why did you do that?” Hvitserk asked this time

“Ylva didn’t do nothing wrong” I answered “He shouldn’t have been hunting there in the first place”

“But still, she’s a slave” Hvitserk said expecting more of my answer.

“She’s more like a friend” I said simply, it was the truth.

“A slave? Your friend?” Sigurd inquired in disbelief.

“Look” I straightened my back fixing my posture “If a slave can be a good fuck for you and your brothers I’m pretty damn sure that a slave can also be worthy enough to be my friend” I snapped back at him.

The brothers stood frozen for a moment, the nature of their activities with that girl Margrethe were not a mystery to me, but still when I saw their faces I felt bad for having reacted the way I did, they just wanted to know what had happened, they were concerned.

“I’m sorry” I apologized and made myself small again.

“Well, she has a point there” Ivar broke the silence trying to light up the atmosphere which to my surprise worked just fine.

“You and your quick tongue” Hvitserk laughed followed by Ubbe.

I looked at Sigurd still ashamed of my reaction but he just smiled at me and petted my head in return, at least I hadn’t fucked things up with them.

“Bring some water and a clean cloth” Queen Aslaug commanded to Ylva who was still on the place with us, the girl hurried to the kitchen disappearing from my sight “Ubbe, Sigurd bring that man here, he needs to respond for this” The pair rushed out of the hall, I followed their backs with my eyes until the doors closed behind them and I was left with the queen and her two other sons.

Ylva came back with the things the queen had asked and giving me a small reassuring smile she disappeared again, the queen came to my side and instructed me to let my dress loose at the top, she removed the clothing layer by layer, I could see Hvitserk’s eyes widening when my linen underdress was the only layer covering my upper body, he didn’t look with perversion, the look on his eyes was more on the angry side, I didn’t have to ask what was the reason for such expression, I got the answer when the queen peeled the last layer off my body, I could feel the damp stickiness on my back right where I had been hit by the man, that small portion behind my shoulder was covered in blood, Ivar growled under his breath, I could see the venom on his eyes at the sight of my wounded back, I grabbed his hand again and gave him a little smile trying to calm him down, the damage was done, being angry wouldn’t fix anything, he seemed to relax a little, Hvitserk stood in front of me fixing some loose strands of hair behind my ears, I hiss escaped my lips when the queen started to clean my wounds, she had a little bit of a heavy hand but I wouldn’t complain, I knew she wasn’t the one to tend to anyone and that this was a huge exception for her.

“Perhaps mother you could let me help instead” Ivar spoke surprising me “You should get ready for when my brothers bring the man here, Hvitserk and I can take care of Eira just fine, right brother?”

“Eh? Oh, yes mother, leave her to us, we’ll take care of her” I rolled my eyes at Hvitserk’s obvious incapacity to act in the spot but it made me laugh.

“Alright, take her to her room, you can clean her wounds there” the queen said, I could see a relieved expression for not having to tend to me and I was relieved to, it could have been an awkward situation.

When we got to my room Ivar made himself comfortable and signaled me to sit with my back towards him, he was surprisingly gentle and calm, it was nice to see that side of him.

“You should sing a song Hvitserk” I teased the older of the two.

“Why?” his expression had gotten back to the playful side I so much liked to see

“I’m wounded, it’s your turn to sing something” I replied

“Ivar is doing the job, he should sing instead” he followed.

“But I want to hear you pretty voice” I pleaded fluttering my lashes in his direction.

“If that’s the case...” Hvitserk took a deep breath as if he was actually going to sing when Ivar interrupted him.

“Please don’t you sound like a wounded cat” Ivar chuckled and Hvitserk acted offended.

“You don’t have an ear for music” he commented with fake indignation.

“I won’t have an ear for anything if you sing and leave us deaf” Ivar’s voice was calm and soft as if he was enunciating a universal truth.

I laughed hard at the bickering exchange, the brothers had the ability to take my mind off the bad parts of this life.

“Why were you at the borders?” Hvitserk asked making himself comfortable in one of the chairs and biting an apple I had bought from the market.

“I was picking some herbs” I responded.

“Don’t you have enough already?” he asked with his mouth full of apple

“Please learn to swallow before you speak” I reprimanded him before answering “I didn’t have the plant I needed the most so I went there to pick it up”

“What plant?” Ivar asked pulling my clothes back up again.

“Calendula” I stated simply

“Why did you needed it?” he inquired.

“It’s a secret” I smiled at him at which he only shook his head, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.

“Next time you go near the woods don’t go alone” He said, I felt like a little girl all over again listening to him speak in that protective tone.

“If you need to go somewhere just tell me” Hvitserk followed his brother with the warnings “I’ll go with you, this can’t happen again, understood?”

I nodded at him; this time more than any other since I came to Kattegat I felt protected, I felt lucky and grateful to have these brothers by my side.

“Now you need to rest a bit” Hvitserk spoke before standing up and walking towards the door followed by Ivar.

“Thank you” I said before the exited the room “to the both of you”

They responded with warm smiles and then left the room, I was left alone and my mind was clouded by different thoughts, I was for sure grateful to have the Ragnarssons with me but the cruelty with which the man had treated me had been like a bucket of icy water falling over my body, this was a dangerous and cruel world, much like the one I used to know, in spite of my friends and the nice people of Kattegat danger still existed, I seemed to have been blinded by the good side of things and the immense luck I had, thinking of Kattegat as a safe haven but now I was reminded that danger was always present and that if I wasn’t careful next time I could end up with much worse than a wounded back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like this chapter?  
> I have a couple of questions.  
> 1\. which role do you think Ylva will play in the future?  
> 2\. What do you think of Eira in this chapter?  
> 3\. What do you think of the brother's reactions to the incident  
> 


	9. Chapter VIII: Mead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I took too long to uptade but college was crazy this past moth. I had the biggest block while writing this chapter but still I hope you enjoy reading it.

After all the fuss my body succumbed to the peaceful slumber that offered me the chance to forget and not feel even if it only lasted a few moments, I was woken up by a hand gently shaking my shoulder, when I opened my eyes I saw Sigurd by my bedside, he offered his hand to help me stand up and I gladly accepted it.

“How are you feeling?” I could see the concern in his eyes, it made me feel guilty for the way I had reacted back in the hall.

“My back still hurts but I think is tolerable” I tried to smile reassuring him of my state at the moment.

“That’s great” Sigurd smiled back “you may like to change your clothes, we brought the man who hurt you to the hall, mother will judge him and basically all of Kattegat will be at the great hall, you need to be present too, you know… as the victim” he doubted for a little bit before saying the last part but that only made his words have more weight as the memories of the previous hours came back to my mind, I think in that moment I couldn’t know exactly which was more wounded, my body or my pride. As Sigurd closed the door of my room before leaving I rushed to the trunk where I kept my belongings, I was not in the mood for facing the whole of Kattegat or the man who was going to be judged but I knew my presence was mandatory.

I chose the first dress that caught my eye which luckily happened to be slightly off the shoulder so it wouldn’t get in the way of the wound and the healing salve Ivar had applied on top of it, I left my hair loose hoping it would distract any kind of furtive glances directed towards my back, I fastened a belt around my waist, the front part was wider and made of a metallic material, it resembled some leaves one on top of the other and was as luxurious as it was rustic, I left my necklace out of my dress so it would show and then taking a few breaths in hopes to gain courage I walked out of my room.

I tried to paint a mental image of the way I looked at that moment, I straightened my back, pulled back my shoulders and raised my chin a little bit improving my overall posture, I was doing that whilst mentally reciting the words my grandpa had said to me when I was younger and got too hurt by people’s comments or actions _‘your pride and strength cannot be taken away from you, erase every mark they imprinted on your body and on your mind and then walk out again and face them as if nothing ever happened, do not let them see you weak, do not let them define you as a victim, do not let them win, show them you were untouched, show them you are the real winner’_ those words may sound a bit overdramatic  but I had decided that in this world I would do well in living by them, Kattegat view me as a link to the gods, Aslaug wouldn’t appreciate me showing weakness and I loathed the idea of being the damsel in distress the Ragnarssons had to rescue, even if the whole situation was not that important I would show myself strong and I wouldn’t let anyone’s expectations of me get low.

I could sense everyone’s gaze over me the moment I walked into the great hall, I pretended to not notice it and kept walking until I reached the side of the throne where queen Aslaug was sitting, Ivar was sitting at her side and Hvitserk was standing by my side whilst Ubbe and Sigurd stood in front of us each of them at one side of a big bulky man, the one who had hurt me.

The trial began, at first everything was just a blur, the queen asked me to recount the facts of the earlier hours of the day when the incident had happened, I told the story unaffected by the gasps and murmuring of the attendants, then she asked the man if he considered I was lying and surprising everyone he confirmed each and every one of my words, the man raised his voice and spoke looking around the hall trying to cause more impact in the people of Kattegat, he said that his actions were justified, that he had done no wrong and that it was his right to punish me however he found suitable, that was the moment when the people broke the silence and began to shout, ones where asking for a punishment, others where just insulting the man, the place was an overall chaos but then the queen stood up from her throne and the silence found its place again.

“You all have heard this man accept his responsibility for the violence infringed to our guest” she spoke in a loud but stern tone “My sons and I have seen the results of this man’s actions carved into Eira’s skin” she paused for a moment allowing her words to sink in the crowd “Do you think the gods will approve such savagery against someone they themselves chose to come and live among us? Is this the right way to treat someone who has been so kind and humble towards all of us in spite of her connection to the gods?” people went wild at the last statement, they started to shout and point at the man with angry expressions, the clamor for justice was almost deafening and much more intense that what I could have anticipated “Do you think I would be a good queen if I let this man treat a free woman in such a way without facing the consequences? What would come next? Men beating their wives whenever they please, children being punished for the smallest of things, men being killed for an absurd feud, do you think I will allow that to happen?” I knew what the queen was doing, she was fueling people’s clamor for justice, she would give them what they wanted, the people’s need would be satisfied and they would trust her as a responsible and fair queen. If words were weapons then queen Aslaug was an expert at wielding them.

“I don’t care about your words or what position you think this girl occupies in the eyes of the gods” the man spoke facing the queen “I was in my right when I punished her and the gods know it, the gods know I did nothing wrong, they know I am right”

“Fine” the queen smiled, even if the gesture was not directed to me it sent a shiver down my spine, it was not a genuine smile, it was the smile you give before destroying someone, the kind of smile you see in the movies when the protagonist fakes forgiveness before stabbing the person who dared to tempt their fury “then I will let the gods be the ones to determine this situation” she made a small pause before following “You will face the fire punishment, and if after a week the traces of it are still fresh in your hands then it will mean the gods have turned their backs against you, you will have to leave Kattegat an in that way we will not face the gods’ rage” people cheered and applauded the queen’s words, she raised a hand signaling everyone to keep silence and then she continued “but if the wounds are healed then it will mean that the gods approve your behavior, I will apologize and you will be compensated”

The man nodded as the multitude cheered, Ubbe and Sigurd took the man close to the fire and I took a step closer to Hvitserk, I held onto his arm when a saw the man extending his arms with his palms upwards whilst another man used a pair of blacksmithing tweezers to take two stones directly from the fire, I lowered my hold on Hvitserk’s arm when the first stone was placed on the man’s right hand, Hvitserk moved his hand to hold mine just in time when the second burning stone was left on the man’s left hand, I held my friend’s hand tighter as the man closed his hands on the stones and clenched his teeth trying to resist the urge to let them fall to the ground, the punishment lasted for about a minute but if felt like an eternity, finally the man loosened his grip on the stones setting himself free from them and walked away, the people made way for him as he left the great hall, the queen, the Ragnarssons and I stayed in our positions as slowly the place started to look almost empty again, I was still holding Hvitserk’s hand when a tall and well-built man walked towards me, he had light and long blonde hair, his eyes were of a piercing blue and his height made him quite intimidating, he looked me up and down and then smiled, a genuine smile, and suddenly he didn’t seem threatening anymore he handed me a curved horn and I received with both hands.

“Drink, it will make you feel better” his voice wasn’t as deep as I expected, actually it was gentle and warm, I took the horn to my lips and basically downed the whole content, it was mead, sweet, delicious and inviting, the man waited for me to put the horn down before speaking again “My name is Björn Ironside I am…”

“The eldest of the Ragnarssons” I couldn’t help myself but interrupt him, he was a legend and he was standing in front of me.

“I see you know who I am” Bjorn commented with the ghost of a smile dancing on his lips.

“She knows who all of us are” Ivar interrupted me before I could speak “and she knows what all of us will do” his voice had a hint of annoyance, I could almost smile to myself, brothers getting annoyed by brothers, that was the thing that no matter the century would forever survive “right Eira?”

 “How come?” Bjorn asked before I could answer to Ivar.

“Dinner will be served in a moment” queen Aslaug spoke “let’s sit at one of the tables and your brothers can tell you what you want to know as we eat”

None of us said a word as we followed the queen and occupied the benches, the servant girls brought a chair for the queen to sit at the head of the table, Ivar occupied one of the benches followed by me and Hvitserk, In front of us Ubbe, Sigurd and Bjorn took their places, the servants brought us the food and filled our glasses with mead. As we ate the story of my arrival to Kattegat and all the fuss that came with my first audience with the queen was told to Bjorn who nodded at certain moments and looked at me from time to time as he processed it all inside his head, I had lost count on how many times I had asked one of the servants to refill my glass but on the bright side, I was starting to feel a lot lighter and giggly which was a great contrast to my previous state. When the food was finished the queen excused herself and left the hall telling us to stay and keep talking if we wanted to, I reached for my glass and took it to my lips when a hand stopped mine before I could drink the sweet content.

“You have drunk too much” It was Ivar, his concerned gaze almost made me put down my glass… almost.

“Let me drink” I said slowly trying to articulate the words properly “I need it”

“Let her” Bjorn spoke from across the table “I can tell she had a difficult day”

Ivar grunted but still released my hand from his, I took the glass to my lips once again and downed the mead without pause until there was nothing left. I put my elbow on the table and rested my chin on my hand contemplating all of the Ragnarssons one by one and resting my gaze for a little longer on Bjorn

“What?” He asked amused at my actions.

“You have a very similar vibe to Jason’s” I replied already too drunk to have any kind of brain-mouth filter and be something less than honest but not drunk enough to not be certain of what I was saying.

“Vibe?” he asked confused by my term.

“Who is Jason?” Hvitserk asked almost at the same time.

“Jason is her brother” Ivar answered the second question in my place, I smiled appreciating the fact that he actually paid attention to what I had said when we talked before.

“Vibe is something you feel from a person, you know?” I leaned on the table as if trying to get closer to Bjorn “Is the sensation someone gives you even if you don’t know them and you have a similar vibe to my brother” I finished.

Silence fell again upon us before I broke it again “You know guys? I like you all so much, I’m so thankful to have met you” I commented looking around the table “you make all of this better” I extending my arms trying to emphasize my words.

“Oh look at you” Hvitserk exclaimed faking tenderness “are you going to confess right now?” he teased.

“Shut up” I said punching him in the arm playfully “I’m serious” I took my glass to my lips again but noticing it was empty I left him fall to the table “Ubbe I admire you so much” I continued earning the attention of all the siblings “Today, I don’t know what could have happened if you were not there, I was scared but you protected me and made that man stop his actions, I’m so thankful to you”

“It was nothing” Ubbe responded but I could see a smile starting to make its way into his face.

“It was something” I dismissed his modesty “You treat me so well and you are such a big brother, I admire you for being strong, you have taken care of me and you also take care of your brothers and your mother and even if you can be a pain in the ass sometimes when you tease me I still like you and I wouldn’t change anything about you because you help me feel at home and safe and I don’t know how to pay you back for it”

All the brothers seemed to be smiling at my sudden need to blurt out my feelings but I couldn’t be stopped.

“You!” I raised my voice pointing my finger to Sigurd, he looked at me like a deer caught in the spotlight before I kept going with my speech “I know you are older than me but sometimes I just want to hug you and protect you not because you can’t protect yourself but because you spark those feeling in me” I took a hand to my chest trying to give my words more importance “and I love when you play music because I can see in your eyes how much you like it and you are so good at it, so good that it makes me want to travel to the Olympus just so I can bring Apollo here because you are that good and you deserve to be appreciated by someone like him”

“Wha…What’s Olympus and Apollo?” Sigurd asked after a little pause trying to pronounce correctly the foreign names.

“Olympus is a place, almost like Asgard, the gods live there, even the minor gods and Apollo is a god” I explained waving my hands around trying to represent the mount Olympus.

“I’ve never heard of that god” Ivar commented from my side.

“That’s because he is Greek, just like my brother’s name and all the Olympians, he’s the god of music and arts and poetry and the sun and prophecy and so many other things, he’s quite interesting… but he has been forgotten”

“Greek?” Hvitserk who had been silent asked.

“Yes, Greek from Greece, that beautiful country”

“I have never heard of it” Bjorn commented leaning on the table.

“That’s because you have yet to go there” I laughed “It’s such a beautiful place with the Mediterranean at one side and the Aegean sea at the other and is so full of history you wouldn’t believe it, I wish I could go there again…”

“You have gone there too?” Hvitserk asked quite impressed but I didn’t answer his question, instead I rested my arm across his shoulders letting my head fall on his shoulder.

“My dear, dear Hvitserk” I cooed.

“Here comes the confession” He teased causing me to drop my arm from his shoulders so I could hit him again.

“Why do I like you so much when you are so annoying?”

“I’ve been told I’m quite charming”

“Someone needs to tell you that you are quite stupid” I commented “but I like you, you make me laugh, you joke with me you get my humor, we like similar things and you help me feel happy and sometimes I laugh so hard when I’m with you and I enjoy those moments so much that it makes me feel guilty because not too long ago it was my brother the one who made me laugh like that instead of you” I had to take a breath before going on with blurting my feelings out “I kick myself mentally because I feel such a bad person when I’m happy knowing that he’s gone and that I will never see him again but you, all of you, make me so happy and make me feel like I am home and I wonder if I am even allowed to feel that good, I feel so guilty”

“This is home Eira” Hvitserk spoke and this time there was no trace of mockery on his voice “Mother likes you, we like you, this place is home for us but also for you” Ivar, Sigurd and Ubbe nodded at their brother’s words.

“I don’t deserve you” I laughed cleaning a few tears that had managed to fall down my cheeks causing the brothers to laugh with me or at me, it didn’t matter.

“Are you not going to say anything about me?” Ivar asked with a teasing tone and a damn smirk painted on his face, his comment caused another door to open inside my brain and maybe because of all the emotions or maybe because of the mead I couldn’t stop the words that in that moment flowed out of my mouth.

I turned to my other side to face Ivar “Every time I think about the reason why I ended up in this place the only reasonable answer I get is that all of this happened because of you”

“Me?” the smirk fell off his lips and now a confused expression colored his face.

“Explain yourself” Ubbe spoke from across the table, I looked around and all the brothers had the same expression as Ivar on their faces.

“I’ve been wondering why I was brought to this exact place and I think Ivar is the answer” I giggled a bit before continuing “Thinking about it, I always heard all these great stories about you Ivar, about your rage and your wisdom, about kingdoms, armies, victories, battles and glory, everything about you, I was fascinated by you, I had learnt about Ragnar Lothbrok and his greatness, about the things that Hvitserk, Bjorn, Ubbe and Sigurd achieved but every time I just wanted to hear more about you” I held one of Ivar’s hands and brought it close to me, my eyes were fixated on his “It makes sense doesn’t it? I came here because of you”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always feedback is well received, my day gets brighter everytime I receive a comment on my story.


	10. Chapter IX: Talking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry I could not upload sooner, I really feel like I should apologize, things have just been really hectic but now I am back home and I can assure you that I can finally write, I have a few chapter already planned so I will update again as soon as I write everything down. If you want you can also follow me on tumblr my blog is called thefangirlsoul I upload moodboards/previews of this fic so if you'd like to see those go check my tumblr.
> 
> Anyways, as always I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

The next day I spent the early morning listening all kinds of things about my drunken state from the past night, Ubbe told me I was quite cute in said state especially when I got sensitive and cried, I honestly could not understand what was cute about that, Sigurd thanked me for my compliments to his music but I could see the fun dancing in his eyes as he recounted the events, I can say that from my side it was not that fun, Hvitserk seemed to make an extra effort to not mock me and instead he was including the term “family” or implying it every time he could during our little conversation over breakfast.

“In this family it doesn’t matter how drunk you got by night, you still have to do your normal chores as if nothing happened” he had said “it is really fun to drink with your family don’t you think so Eira? Drink and opening your heart and all those things that families do, it feels good right?” I appreciated what he was doing, even if his comments seemed to be a bit forced sometimes, I knew he was trying to make me feel at home, he was basically throwing in my face the fact that we were family maybe trying to make me feel less guilty about feeling well in Kattegat, after what I had said whilst drunk I could feel that not only Hvitserk but also Ubbe and Sigurd where a bit warmer and kinder towards me, the change was so subtle that if I hadn’t been thinking about my past words as much as I was I wouldn’t have noticed it, Hvitserk on the contrary was as subtle as a cannon ball, in all honesty the only thing that was left was for him to pull out a neon-light cartel with the words ‘hey, we are family’ written on it,  his behavior was quite funny but still it warmed my heart.

Ivar on the other hand seemed to be deep in thought, I was a little nervous to approach him to say the least, the information I had revealed the past night was still fresh on my mind and I knew that I had to talk to him and answer his questions, but I didn’t know how start the conversation.

“It seems the weather will be quite good today” Queen Aslaug spoke taking a seat by my side, the hall was empty and I was so deep in thought that I didn’t hear her coming.

“Oh, yes, it seems it will be a warm day” I commented coming back into my senses.

“I know how hard it is to see the future” the queen spoke gently resting a hand on top of mine “It seems you told something to Ivar but don’t worry, I’m sure you can explain to him what your words mean”

We stayed in silence for a little while and then the queen spoke again “you said you wanted to take a bath in the river didn’t you?” she asked getting more comfortable with our proximity catching a strand of my hair and placing it behind my ear “go there, swim for a bit and it may help you clear your mind” I knew the gesture was as foreign to her as it was for me but for some unknown reason it felt comforting, because of the situation with my own mother I had never experienced the kind of tenderness that only a mother can offer and even if Queen Aslaug seemed to be on a complete different dimension with her royal aura and innate elegance she was still a mother, and her touch although unexpected was warm and relaxing, just like I thought the touch of a mother was supposed to be.

“You are right, I think distracting myself can help me with all of this” I smiled at her.

“Poor child, how difficult it must be, knowing so much and keep it all in your mind” she said placing again her hands on top of mine.

“But you understand, right?” I ventured “You have visions, you see the future…” She smiled at my words.

“Yes, but my visions are only bits and pieces, flashing images of what’s yet to come, sometimes they are clear, others I can’t decipher what they mean and I only understand them later on when what I saw has already happened” She explained “you on the other hand seem to already know what is coming our way, I believe your knowledge is more certain than my visions, while I have only bits and pieces of information I think you have the whole situation already figured out” the queen spoke as if she had been thinking about it for a long time, who knows, maybe she had.

“Still, I feel comforted by having you here” she continued after a short pause “thanks to you I know there’s a good future waiting for my sons and for that I thank the gods… Eira, I understand that the burden you carry on your shoulders is far heavier than mine but come to me if you need to figure things out, but for now let’s forget about this” she smiled standing up “go to the river, I’ll tell Sigurd to go with you, we don’t want any bad situations to happen again” that being said she left the hall probably to find Sigurd or to tell someone else to find him, I ran to my room quickly managing to undress and dress again, it would be much more comfortable for Sigurd and I if I wasn’t completely naked in front of him, so I put on my 21st century underwear under my dress and walked out of the room, it would serve me as an improvised bikini allowing me to be comfortable enough to swim and still covering the necessary parts of my body so Sigurd and I wouldn’t fall into an awkward situation, besides I knew that he wouldn’t comment anything of my attire, he had by far the most tact out of his brothers so I had nothing to worry about.

The walk to the river wasn’t that long and Sigurd and I spent it just talking and laughing, he wanted to hear more about the god I had mentioned before so I told him the stories of Apollo’s birth and how he defeated the piton, his relation with oracles and prophecy and of course the story about Hermes stealing part of Apollo’s oxen and how upon being discovered and forced to give back what he had stolen he had played the seven-stringed lyre made out of a tortoise shell so beautifully that Apollo who had not heard other music than the one coming from his three-stringed lyre or from Pan’s flute longed to have the new lyre to himself, and how in order to do so he gave up the oxen he had tried to retrieve and also offered Hermes full domain over the flocks and herds and the wild animals, Hermes accepted the offer becoming the new god of herdsmen and Apollo devoted himself almost completely to the arts and music.

“So you say that this god gave up those important things for a lyre?” Sigurd asked surprised “how can that be possible?”

“I guess that the god did exactly what we are supposed to do sometimes” I replied, I also had given some thought to that story and I wanted to share my conclusion with Sigurd “I believe there are times when we have to let go of things that seem important or of what usually seems to be the right thing to do in order to choose what makes us genuinely happy, that doesn’t mean we are leaving behind our responsibilities it just means we are doing what’s better for us by staying true to ourselves and from my perspective that should be respected if not admired”

“I guess it makes sense” Sigurd commented.

When we arrived to the river I could not believe my eyes, the water was clear and inviting, the sun rays shone on the surface creating sudden sparks of light making it seem that little diamonds had been placed here and there all over the river, a waterfall was flowing from the edge of a small hill above us letting the water fall into a kind of round shape at our level creating the perfect space for swimming or just bathing, a few rocks were protruding from the water almost as if they had been intentionally placed there by someone’s hand. The beauty of the greenery around us didn’t go unnoticed to me, dozens of trees, bushes and different species of fauna framed the river making it seem even more whimsical if possible; since arriving to Kattegat I had had the chance to admire nature more than ever before but even like that I still found myself amazed at how beautiful it could be, forget any skylines of big cities with their tall buildings, nature could beat those sights anytime.

Sigurd tried to look away when I took my dress off which of course I appreciated and even if he did a double take at my underwear choice he didn’t comment anything as I had predicted so that was one less thing to be worried about. I stepped into the water expecting to feel some kind of cold sensation but the sun was so intense that I felt no such thing, instead I was met by a warm embrace the further I swam into the river, Sigurd took place under a tree guarding himself from the sun, I took a deep breath and sank into the water, I started swimming underneath the surface enjoying the sensation of my body feeling lighter and free, the more I swam the more relaxed I found me, my mind started to clear up and I started to really enjoy myself.

I stayed in the water until my fingers were all wrinkled up and my legs started to feel a bit sore, I didn’t want to extenuate myself so I got out of the water, as I walked out of the water Sigurd walked towards me offering a hand so I would not slip and fall, he handed me a drying cloth for me to use and turned around when I started to strip my swimwear off to replace it with my regular dry clothing, I tried to comb my hair with my fingers to make it look as decent as possible but I knew it didn’t do much for me, when I was ready I walked towards Sigurd and we made our way back to Kattegat.

“Can I ask something?” he asked breaking the silence between us.

“For sure” I answered normally whilst I thought ‘please not about my underwear’.

“Why do you have a scar on your tight?” his tone was a little wary but still curious, I was impressed he had noticed the scar at all, I mean it wasn’t small but people didn’t tend to pay that much attention to actually realize there’s a scar on my tight, maybe Sigurd had an eye for details that I had yet to discover.

“You and Ivar are not the only pair of siblings who fight a lot” I replied earning an almost laughable look of shock from Sigurd.

“Your brother did that to you?” disbelief colored his voice as he directed a look to my leg as if by doing so he would still see the scar.

“Kind of” I said simply “The truth is that when we were younger Jason and I fought quite a lot” It was true, my brother and I had basically made a 180 degree change from those days but the memories were still bright on my mind, the only difference was that they did not hurt that much anymore.

“Why? You seem to love him” Sigurd asked confused.

“Of course I love him" I said "but things were quite dark a few years ago, especially when our mother was brought up to the conversation, we had the biggest fights because of her” I was being honest, I didn’t feel the need to mask things up in front of Sigurd, he made me feel comfortable enough to be open with him, he made me feel at ease and judging by his constant fights with Ivar I knew he would understand.

“And you got that scar on one of those fights” Sigurd concluded.

“Yes, Jason and I were playing on a room where my grandfather used to keep some tools, there was an axe resting against a shelf, we had been told to not play in there because we could hurt ourselves but of course we didn’t listen” I told the story as the images became vivid on my mind “suddenly I tripped over something making Jason fall to the ground, he got mad at me and we started to shout and push each other around, he mentioned something about our mother in an attepmt to hurt me which worked so I got mad and pushed him harder making him fall again, he stood up so angry that when he pushed me back against the self he did it with so much strength that the shelf shook hard enough to make the axe fall and to my bad luck it fell right to the side where Jason had pushed me to, I was wearing short pants, don’t ask why, and the axe had been sharpened just hours ago so naturally the blade cut through my skin deep enough to leave a mark on me which I still carry to this day” I finished my story looking at Sigurd to see his reaction.

“What did your brother do then?” he asked.

“Well, he freaked out, we both did, I started to cry and he didn’t know what to do, suddenly our grandfather walked in the room, he was coincidentally looking for his axe but instead he found blood on the floor and two very freaked out children” I laughed, I could still see granddad’s face contour into confusion after finding such scene, but now that I didn’t feel the pain the moment was quite funny to remember “I was taken to the hosp… to the healer immediately and Jason got punished, he couldn’t look at me in the eye after that but we were in such bad terms that he never apologized, we just got over it with time”.

“I would have apologized” Sigurd commented almost to himself.

“I know, that’s because you are nice and the opposite of my brother from back them” I stated simply.

The rest of our walk was spent by sharing stories about our childhood, I had a good laugh imagining the Ragnarssons as little children and Sigurd smiled warmly as I told him the nice stories from my childhood, maybe the darker ones would be left for another time.

As we made our way into Kattegat we ran unexpectedly into Bjorn, he looked at me up and down before speaking.

“I want to talk to Eira, can I take her for a moment?” he asked surprising both Sigurd and I.

“If she wants to” Sigurd replied.

“Yes, no problem” for some reason I didn’t feel wary about Bjorn so having a talk with him didn’t make me nervous at all, in fact I was curious about what he wanted to say.

We walked towards the port, it was not trading season so things were calm around there, we got to the very end of the wooden structure and Bjorn took a seat right there balancing his legs above the water, he patted the place beside him signaling me to sit which I did.

We stayed in silence for some time, Bjorn looked to the front, right to the line where the sky met the water, he seemed calm but I could almost see how his mind was working erratically and his thoughts were accumulating one on top of the other.

“I understand how you feel” he finally spoke “About your brother, I know how it feels” his words left me speechless, I was not expecting a topic like that, especially not coming from him.

“What do you mean?” I asked carefully not wanting to pressure him.

“I too have lost a sibling… I lost my sister” Even if his voice didn’t shake and his expression didn’t change as he looked at me, I could sense that even if he had gotten over the pain he still felt some kind of nostalgia about the memories he still carried with him.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to” I said honestly, the last thing I wanted was for someone especially Bjorn to bring back hurtful memories from the past.

“I want to, I think it might help” he continued to speak “Last night you said you felt guilty, I felt the same when my sister died and I was still here living and breathing" he sighed "things were even more surreal because I didn’t saw her die, I was away with father and when we came back we were received with the news of her decease, I remember that my thoughts at that moment were about how I did not get to say goodbye, not properly at least” he shook his head as if trying to dismiss a thought “did you say goodbye to your brother?”

“No” I admitted after a short pause, that was one of the things that had hurt the most about everything “I didn’t, I never thought we would be separated like this, I just lost him with no warning at all”

“But you are still here, and if that’s how the gods wanted it to be then is because they have plans for you” Bjorn comforted me.

“It’s just that I feel that I am not allowed to be happy when I don’t have such an important person in my life, I don’t have Jason or any member of my family, I lost them all at the same time and still I am able to laugh and smile, don’t you think that makes me a terrible person?” I asked, I had formulated the same question to myself way too many times but I never seemed to find an answer.

“Not at all, life goes on, you are here for a reason, maybe your arrival to Kattegat was inevitable, all the things you know are more useful here with us than anywhere else, I do believe the gods sent you here as I believe the gods someday will allow me to see new lands and new people far away from here” his voice was firm but still warm and even a little dreamy when he talked about his desire of going somewhere else, only if he knew how far he would get… “And you are not alone, I have never seen queen Aslaug caring for someone outside her family as she cares for you, she almost looks at you in the same way she looks at my brothers” Bjorn spoke surprising me at his statement, until that morning I had not realized how much the queen cared for me but Bjorn had taken notice of it in less than a day “Ubbe honestly looks at you as if you were his little sister, Ivar seems more calm when he is around you and that’s saying a lot, Hvitserk has never behaved in the way he behaves around you with any other woman and Sigurd looks at you as if he also wants to protect you even though you said you were the one wanting to protect him, you have them, you are not alone here”

Bjorn  was right, even though I had lost Jason I had also found four guys  who had become much more than just friends, I cared deeply for every one of them and they had also shown that they cared for me, even though no one would ever replace Jason in my life or in my heart that didn’t mean that I would not let anyone get closer to me again, maybe I would never see my brother again but that made me even more determined to cherish the wonderful people I had been given the chance to meet, Queen Aslaug, Ubbe, Hvitserk, Sigurd, Ivar and Ylva were my people and I would not take them from granted.

“Thank you Bjorn, I think I really needed to hear something like that” I gave him a quick hug showing my gratitude whilst he laughed lightly at my gesture “Maybe we can also become friends”

“That would be interesting” he commented with a smile.

We stood up and made our way back to the town, Bjorn had been right, talking to him had actually helped me, now I felt lighter and could almost sense how the guilt that had followed me was banishing slowly from my heart.

When I got back to the great hall I ran to my room and took a small round recipient I had hid on my trunk, I walked out again and ran into a slave I already knew but had not talked with her that much.

“Margrethe” I called her name as I approached her, I could not deny she was beautiful, her eyes and hair were light but vibrant, her proportions would have been admired even in modern times, I had no doubt why three of the Ragnarssons felt so attracted to her, the only thing that bothered me about her was the void on her eyes, there was an strange emptiness emanating from her that made me nervous, I didn’t know what to expect from her, she was so different from Ylva, my friend was joyful, energetic, full of life and charisma, Margrethe on the other hand seemed to be voluble, I could say she was like clay, I was sure that in spite of the dull spirit that seemed to live in her she was able to transform into a lamb or a wolf according to the situation and I didn’t know why but it simply bothered me a lot.

“Yes?” her voice was soft, soft enough to imply being scared but also soft enough to seduce and temp.

“Have you seen Ivar? I really need him” I asked sending my thoughts about Margrette to the back of my head.

“I haven’t, I do not know where he is” she spoke, her voice still soft and submissive “I’m sorry”

“It’s ok, I’ll look for him myself” I smiled towards her and walked out of the hall, I looked from side to side trying to decide which way I should go, finally I decided I would go to the blacksmith’s, if my words from the previous night had affected him he may have felt the need to clear his mind as much as I did in the morning and maybe hammering and sharpening things was the perfect therapy for him.

I saw Ivar as soon as I entered the place, I was going to greet him but he interrupted me before the words could leave my mouth.

“I’ve been waiting for you” he said with his eyes still fixated on the piece of metal he had been working on

“Sorry I am late” I commented not knowing what else to say.

“Come sit with me” he nodded to the empty place next to him so I took one of the small stools I was already familiar with and sat beside him.

“I have something for you” I said taking the little recipient out of the pocket of my apron dress and handing it to him.

“What is this?” he asked opening the lid and touching the content with the tips of his fingers.

“It’s a healing salve, I’ve been working on it, I think it may be good for your wrists” I said softly, still not sure of how things were between Ivar and I.

“Why?” that was the only question that left his mouth.

“For the way you move around I see that your wrists deal with some pressure so I wanted to make this for you” I actually didn’t have any reason for making the salve, the idea kinda came to my mind the moment I had seen Ivar crawl around for the first time “I will also prepare more salve and an oil from the calendula I picked yesterday, that plant is stronger so I thought it would work better than what I put in this one…”

“You were picking plants for me?” he inquired interrupting my mumbling.

“Yes”

“So you got whipped because you were doing something for me, how am I supposed to accept your present knowing that?”

“I didn’t got whipped because of that, I got whipped because that man was a violent idiot” I replied “besides you will have to accept it because I’ve been using all my knowledge just so I can get the right salve for you” I smiled “when the new salve is ready and the oil is concentrated enough it will be perfect for your back…”

“Who told you my back hurt?” Ivar interrupted me again.

“No one Ivar, but I’ve been paying attention to you, I know that your wrists, shoulders and lower back carry a lot of pressure so they must hurt, I wanted to lessen the pain” I answered honestly.

“But why?” He seemed confused at my whole statement.

“Because I care for you” Ivar seem even more shocked at my last statement than when I was playing the fortuneteller the previous night.

“Thank you” he finally spoke giving me a small smile “I will use it well”

Silence fell upon us, we both knew what we wanted to talk about next but neither of us seemed to take courage to give the first step.

“About last night…” I said deciding to stop with the ridiculous suspense.

“All those things you said about me... are they true?” it almost hurt when I saw the hope shining bright on his eyes and I wanted to just hold him tight and close to me when I saw the fear starting to make it's appearance about to swallow his hope.

“They are Ivar, believe me, your destiny is so great that people will hear your name for centuries”

“How can you be so sure? I know the gods sent you and they might have told you things but they may change their mind about me” his voice was low and almost fragile, in that moment I realized how important destiny was for Ivar and also how privileged I was for seeing him being lowkey vulnerable because it meant he trusted me and I couldn’t think of a more beautiful gift than his trust “why would they favor me that much when my brothers can be much better than me, how can the gods favor a cripple?.

“I’m sure because I’ve seen it Ivar, I have seen the impact your actions will have in the known world, I have heard the stories that will be told with you as the main character, you will do so many great things that some people will consider you a legend for they cannot imagine how a single person can accomplish that much” I said showering him with information but still managing to be discrete and not reveal the exact moments and events that sooner or later would transform him into the brutal, wise and legendary Ivar the boneless. “Your brothers will also accomplish great things, amazing things, I won’t deny it but there’s no room for comparison, the gods don’t care if you are a cripple, I don’t care that you are a cripple, in my eyes you are impressive, promising, strong and capable of anything and one day the rest of the world will see you like I do”

“You really think like that about me?” he asked with a smirk, the kind of cocky Ivar I was used to and liked was finally coming back.

“Of course” I replied laughing “now, why don’t we go back to the great hall, I’m starving” I changed the topic for a much lighter one, I stood up walking towards the entrance as Ivar got off his stool and crawled to my side in a few seconds.

When we got to the great hall we found queen Aslaug and Bjorn discussing some matters, the queen smiled at the sight of Ivar and me together and signaled us to sit as we waited for the food to be ready.

“What’s the matter?” Ivar asked before I could do so at seeing Bjorn and the queen’s expressions.

“Some people are getting sick, it’s nothing out of the ordinary” the queen replied calm as always.

“But you seem worried” I said to Bjorn who was sitting in front of me.

“I think it’s weird that the ones who are getting sick have the same symptoms” Bjorn replied contemplative “I don’t want to think of the possibility of facing an epidemic, we haven’t had one since…”

“And we won’t have one again” queen Aslaug interrupted him and Bjorn seemed relieved at it “I will send healers to see the people who are sick and treat them, we will be able to control everything”

Even if the Queen sounded confident Bjorn seemed genuinely worried and I started to worry too, I sincerely hoped it was just a flu passing by but if an actual epidemic was coming our way we should be prepared, epidemics never listen to healers or doctors, most times they were fatal and no one knows how long they will last or how many will be lucky enough survive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for some small questions (it makes me really happy when you answer to these <3 )  
> 1\. What do you think of the interactions on this chapter?  
> 2\. What do you think will happen with the possible epidemic?  
> 3\. Did you like the conversation with Ivar?  
> I'll be thrilled to read your answer and comments if you want to leave one.  
> Thanks for reading <3


	11. Chapter X: Entranced

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I hope you enjoy this chapter and please tell me your favorite scene on the comments, also if you want you can also answer the question I left on the notes at the end on the comments, I really want to know your answers ;)

It was a busy week, all the healers were running here and there watching over the patients that seemed to grow in number with every passing day. The healer that had taken me under her wing needed some extra help so she made me tag along with her when she went to check on some of the patients, besides she said it would be good for me if I really wanted to learn the job so of course I followed around; I worried more with every new patient, I was not sure if we were facing an epidemic, it might just have been a flu but in a time without antiseptics, painkillers or “formal medicine” a simple flu could have big consequences. The days also grew hotter which I did not understand, even if there were some sunny days now and then summer was supposed to be over, the days should be getting cooler not the opposite, I even felt that I was sweating even more than during summer, it was really weird.

Once I was free from my duties with the healer I headed to the great hall where Bjorn and Hvitserk were waiting for me.

“Hello” I said taking a seat on the bench Hvitserk was sitting “do you need me?”

“I told Bjorn about the lands you’ve seen” Hvitserk commented quite excited.

“He also told me that you know about maps, is it true?” Bjorn asked with a shimmer on his eyes.

“Yes, it is true” I replied whilst nodding “is there something I can do?”

Bjorn and Hvitserk crossed gazes for a few seconds before the eldest of the two took something out of his pocket, he then opened the small roll on the table and I realized what it was.

“That’s a map!” I spoke exited to which Hvitserk directed a bright smile to me “Where did you get it?”

“Paris” Bjorn spoke simply “I understand that this is just a small piece, but I want to sail here” he pointed his finger at the Mediterranean.

“Of course you do” I smiled, I could not believe it, things were starting to happen and Bjorn’s map marked only the beginning of all the great things the Ragnarssons would achieve.

“What do you mean?” Bjorn inquired.

“It is how things are supposed to be” I replied examining the map.

“So sailing there is possible” Hvitserk commented excited.

“Yes it is” I reassured him.

“And which route should we take?” Bjorn asked getting closer to the map.

“I’ve already told Hvitserk about it” I said placing my hand on Hvitserk’s shoulder “but the map makes it easier” I took my finger to the map and started to trace the route that made the most sense according to the Viking expansion maps I had studied “this map is incomplete so if I can only calculate that we are around here” I said following the map and tracing a line from the map to the table “so you will have to go around this place which is Denmark and get on a similar route as if you were going to England or France, the advantage is that you already know that sea so it shouldn’t be a problem but now that you are going to the Mediterranean you will have to cross French sea so you will need some kind of safe passage or otherwise you will be attacked” I stated.

“We’ll fix that” Bjorn spoke after a moment “for now it is more than enough that you say the trip is possible, the ships will be ready soon and we will sail” he finished rolling up the map and placing it back on his pocket.

“I’ll see you on the training fields Eira?” Hvitserk changed the topic as he stood up from the bench.

“Yes, I’ll be there” I affirmed as he walked out of the great hall.

“Are you alright?” I asked Bjorn who seemed to be deep in thought.

“How are the patients you’ve been seeing” he asked as I moved to sit by his side.

“All are the same, strong fever and then sudden drops on their temperature and they feel too dizzy and weak to even open their eyes or move, I am not sure it is an epidemic otherwise we would have many more people with the same symptoms and more would have died but it may be a strong virus” I replied honestly.

“A what?” Bjorn inquired curious by my use of terms.

“Oh um, a virus, a very very small thing that causes people or any living thing to get sick” I explained realizing that no one besides me knew what a virus was at that time “even if it is sometimes the seed of an epidemic it doesn’t affect that many people in comparison so it is easier to control and there won’t be many deaths either” I honestly hoped it wasn’t as big as an epidemic, I couldn’t recall any records of an epidemic on the Viking world at that time so I hoped to have history by our side.

“That’s a relief” he spoke softly “but still we must control it”

“Is there some other reason why you are so worried?” I inquired with as much tact as possible.

A heavy silence followed my question, I was about to apologize for being nosy when Bjorn finally spoke again.

“Gyda” he replied sighing “my sister, she died for something like this”

“I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“Don’t worry” he interrupted me “She’s with the gods right now so I am happy, she was just too good for this world, too kind” Bjorn’s eyes spoke volumes, I could see how much he loved his sister and how proud he was of her even if she was gone “she would have become a wonderful woman by now, she would have a good husband and amazing children… I am sorry, I don’t mean to bore you” she shook his head as if he was trying to send the thoughts of her sister to the back of his mind.

“You are not” I smiled tenderly “She sounds wonderful, thank you for telling me about her” I placed my hand on his arm so he would notice I was being honest.

Bjorn gave me a small smile “Why don’t you go to the training fields? It seems that my brothers are waiting for you”

“You are right” I stood from the bench “I’ll see you later”

The walk to the fields was exhausting to say the least, I thought it was because I had been spending my energy by running all over Kattegat visiting the patients during the past day but still like that I felt unusually tired, so much that when I got to my destination I was heavy breathing with no apparent reason, I made my way to one of the old, big trees that circled the place and sat on the ground but my resting time was interrupted too soon by Ubbe crouching in front of me.

“Want to learn to shoot an arrow?” he asked out of nowhere

“What?” I asked confused

“Come on, it will be fun” He gave me a bright smile and stood up extending a hand for me to hold.

Ubbe walked me to the area where a few big wooden circles were hanging from a rope (maybe he thought that it would be too much for me to shot to a dead deer’s head, if so he was right) and handed me a bow and an arrow which I received reluctantly.

“Relax” he laughed noticing how tense I was as he positioned himself at my back “place the arrow on the bow, yes that’s it” he guided me through “now point with the arrow to one of the circles, straighten your back” he ordered placing a hand on my back and adding a little pressure, I could see from the corner of my eye how Hvitserk had stopped training to instead eye Ubbe following each move he made behind me, Ivar was not the exception to that, his axe was on the floor and his gaze was fixated on Ubbe and I, Sigurd on the other hand seemed more curious than analytical towards his older brother’s actions “pull the string and relax your shoulders, that’s right, now open your legs a little for balance” he said pushing my legs apart using his foot “now tighten your core” he placed a hand firmly on my abdomen emphasizing his words, the only way I could describe his actions was like when you are being trained by someone at the gym, there has to be physical contact between the parts but as close as it may be you both know that it is in no way disrespectful or perverted “Focus on the place you want the arrow to go” his arms were around mine, his hands holding my wrists gently guiding my every movement “now let go” and that being said I let go of the arrow, it didn’t hit the center of the wooden circle but surprisingly enough it hit on the outer part, I watched in amazement how my arrow was stuck to the circle as Ubbe placed his hands on my shoulders and shook me a little “well done!” he laughed, I turned around and found the four brothers watching me with smiles on their faces making me blush “see? It is nothing to be tense about, try again”.

I shot a few more times and I was ecstatic when my arrows hit close to the center of the circle, the sensation of confidence shooting the arrows gave me was incredible, and the rush of adrenaline was welcomed too and for the first time in that week I felt wide awake.

A few raindrops started to fall upon us so the training was cut short.

“We have to go back before the roads get slippery” Ubbe commanded.

Hvitserk and I covered the weapons with a leather cover as Ubbe helped Ivar get into a palanquin and Sigurd collected their personal weapons and handed them to each of the brothers.

Ubbe and Sigurd took hold of each of the frontal arms of the palanquin as Hvitserk held the two on the back, they raised it from the ground and we started our walk back to Kattegat; we got to the great hall just in time before the rain started to pour heavily and the weather turned cooler thanks to the storm, I rushed to pour four glasses of ale for the brothers and handed them to them as they sat on a bench close to the fire, I sat on the bench too and was startled when I felt a weight positioning on my legs, I looked down only to find Hvitserk laying down on the bench using my tights as his pillow.

“Move” I ordered shaking my legs trying to make him uncomfortable.

“I’m tired” he covered his eyes with his arm but the smirk on his face was obvious.

“We all are” I complained but Hvitserk didn’t move an inch, I rolled my eyes at his actions but still I could find a bit of comic relief in what he did, I looked up and saw Ivar sitting with Ubbe on the bench in front of us glaring at Hvitserk intensely, I did not commented on it but I felt a sort of guilty sensation start to build on me and I did not know why, in that moment my train of thought was interrupted by Sigurd who spoke from my side.

“Would you sing something for us?” he requested.

“Hvitserk won’t shut up about you singing to him” Ubbe fake-complained.

“I am not that good” I tried to excuse myself.

“Liar, you are good enough” Hvitserk commented to which I playfully slapped him softly.

“Think about is as payback” Sigurd bumped his shoulder softly against mine to which Ivar’s gaze seem to harden “You always ask me to play music, now I ask you to sing, sing whatever you want”

“Sing the song you sang to Hvitserk” Ivar requested looking directly at my eyes.

“No, that’s my song” the mentioned protested to which I covered his mouth with my hand.

“I think I have the perfect song for this weather” I smiled especially towards Ivar as I reviewed the lyrics on my mind, the song was in Norwegian so maybe they would understand a thing or two, I did not speak Norwegian but the song was so beautiful that I felt the need to learn it even if it was only phonetically, I took a sip of ale and after taking a deep breath I started to sing.

 

_Who shall sing me? Into the death-sleep sling me_

_When I walk on the Path of Death_

_And the track I tread is cold, so cold_

 

The song was about the path to Helheim, the kingdom of death deep into the dark and cold Niflheim that awaits those who are not claimed either by Odin or Freyja at the moment of their deaths, Loki’s daughter Hel watches over the place alongside the dog Garm.

 

_I sought the songs, I sent the songs_

_When the deepest well_

_Gave me tears so harsh of Death Father’s pledge_

_I know it all, Odin_

_To whom you gave your eye._

 

On Odin’s never ending quest for wisdom he went to Mirmir’s well, Urðarbrunnr, the well of destiny at the roots of Yggdrasil, Mirmir had acquired the knowledge of all things by drinking the well’s waters, when Odin arrived he asked to drink from the well but Mirmir as the guardian of the well and knowing the magnitude of Odin’s wanting asked him for an eye in return to which Odin took his left eye out of his face and threw it to the water, only after having made that sacrifice the All-father was allowed to drink from the waters of destiny.

 

_Who shall sing me? Into the death-sleep sling me_

_When I walk on the Path of Death_

_And the track I tread is cold, so cold_

_Early or in the day’s end_

_The raven still knows if I fall_

 

The gods already know our fate, the All-Father has infinite knowledge and his ravens know when our time on Midgard must come to an end.

 

_Once you stand by the Gate of Death and you have to tear free_

_I shall follow you_

_Across the Gjallarbrú with my song_

 

The Gjallarbrú was the gold covered bridge which spans the river Gjöll and the newly dead must cross it in order to get to Hel, the river of freezing waters in which knives flow separates the living from the dead and has existed since the Ginnungagap, the nothingness, the primordial void.

 

_You become free from the chains that bind you_

_You are released form the bonds that hold you_

 

Helheim is not entirely a bad place, the god Baldr stays there after his dead and until the Ragnarök comes, those who die from sickness or from old age go there and once one arrives there it’s impossible to leave.

 

_Cattle dies_

_Kinsmen die_

_You yourself will also die_

_But one thing will never die, the just fame you deserve._

_Cattle dies_

_Kinsmen die_

_You yourself will also die_

_I know what thing which never dies, the judgment of a dead man’s life_

 

“The trip to Helheim” Ivar commented after a moment of silence “Am I right?”

“Yes Ivar, you are” I replied impressed by his intelligence, even if I sang in a language that did not yet exist he had been able to infer the topic of the song only with the few linguistic similarities that were possible to trace between old Norse and Norwegian, Ivar was impresive.

“Where did you learn it?” Sigurd asked excitedly from my side.

“I’ve heard this song many times back in my world, enough times to learn it” I smiled.

“Your world?” Ivar was fast, he noticed the word that managed to slip between my lips and now he was asking questions.

“Just back home” I tried to dismiss the comment.

“Is your home so different that you call it your world?” he pushed.

“Kind of” I replied after a second of gathering myself “but let’s not talk about it”

“Hvitserk had something to show off after all” Ubbe commented changing the subject to which I gave him a thankful gaze.

"Would you teach me that song? In that way I could play and you could sing on one of the feasts" Sigurd asked smiling with the energy of a puppy running through his body, he definitely had the soul of an artist.

"My simple voice would soon be drown by the sound of your beautiful music" I commented "But it will be my pleasure to teach you the lyrics" I added to not extinguish his excitement.

"Now I am kind of jealous of Hvitserk" Ubbe laughed "He listened to you sing first" He teased, I shook my head at such comment laughing with him nonetheless.

I looked down to my lap where Hvitserk was breathing peacefully, during the song I had absentmindedly directed one of my hands to his hair rhythmically running my fingers through it  at a slow pace and by the way his abdomen raised and fell with constant breathing it seemed he had fallen asleep, he looked so cute and innocent it warmed my heart and made me smile. When I looked up I saw Ivar glaring at Hvitserk again to which I was surprised, then after a moment he fixated his eyes on mine, the blue of his irises was hard, intense and entrancing, the storm going on outside seemed to fuel the electric quality of his already enchanting eyes so much that I felt compelled to keep looking at him and what’s more, I realized that even if I felt somehow small under his gaze I did not want to look away, I just wanted to drown on the harsh but oh so intoxicating blue that only he possessed, what was happening to me?.

“Wake up early tomorrow” Ivar spoke in a low commanding voice that until then I had not heard him use striking an unknown sensation on the pit of my stomach similar to a knot being tied on said place “You will come with me” somehow those five simple words caused a shiver to run down my spine, I knew he wasn’t asking, I knew he was commanding me and in other circumstances I would have snapped at him but at that moment all I could do was nod still confused at the sensations Ivar had somehow triggered in me, I could see a satisfied smirk painted on his face at my reaction as he drank the ale I had poured for him, I directed my attention back to Hvitserk playing with his hair in order to forget what had just happened, I could sense Ubbe and Sigurd looking at me but I decided to ignore them, they were probably as confused as I was and maybe the main question they wanted to ask was the same that was forming in my head: “What the hell was that about?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think, did you like it?  
> Now an important question: What do you think about Ivar and Hvitserk on this chapter, what do you think will happen in the future?  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> The song Era sings in this chapter is Helvegen by Wardruna, I took inspiration specifically on the performance of this song at Traena Festival where they sang with Aurora, go on youtube and type: Wardruna feat. AURORA - Helvegen+multi-language Lyrics. I promise it's magical


	12. Not a chapter but still important

**I will delete this as soon as i upload the next chapter of the story** but still I wanted to give you guys an explanation about why I've been so incactive and at the same time I wanted to apologize for not being the constant writer I should.

If you follow me on tumblr maybe you will know that I experienced a great loss this past December, I had a schedule already planned for writitng new chapters and even new short stories, I also keep a notepad with the main ideas for the new chapters but I could not drive myself to write, I simply couldn't.

There was a person who gave me strenght and happiness through his kind words and warm voice, he shone brighter than anyone else and I felt at ease whenever I listened to his voice but this december he passed away, the news were so shoking I had just come out of the shower when I found out and I felt as if my word was falling to pieces before my eyes, I could only cry but in front of others I had to hide my feelings, I delayed writing thinking that in a few days I would be in a better condiion but no, details of his death became known one by one each day and it made the pain greater, after I read his last letter I was devastated... I've dealt with depression for a long time the same way he did and the words on that letter made so much sense to me, I understood him because I've felt the same and still to this day I feel the same at times.

I've been trying to go on little by little since his funeral happened, I think the funeral made things real for me even though I still feel as if everything was a lie, an illusion, a trick of the mind; whilst going through all of this I couldn't write a single sentence, I would open word and just stare at the blank screen for more than an hour and nothing came to my mind, even with my notepad by my side I couldn't write and if I did it was not as good as I wanted, I knew I was letting people down including myself but I couldn't help it.

This new year started in a better key but then suddendly more people died, people that me or my parents happened to know for one reason or another so almost naturally my mind turned dark again, I couldn't listen to music, I couldn't write, I couldn't do the things that normally made me happy, dark thoughts started to appear again and I got scared because I felt my mind was getting bad and I did not like it, I was worried..

Honestly I considered to stop writing this story, I thought I did not have what it takes anymore, I felt as if I was about to fail greatly, I just wanted to quit writing Fallen through time because I thought it was the best thing to do if I couldn't upload chapters on time, but I've been talking to myself a lot these past nights trying to make myself feel better and thankfully it's been working, the same way the dark clouds fade after a storm, the dark shadows on my mind started fading again little by little, I know they will show up again but I hope it's not soon, after all this "self-therapy" I felt like I ws ready to write again so I went to my tumblr and posted "The new chapter will be up tomorrow" or something like that, I posted that a couple of  days ago but the chapter is still not ready so I wanted to apologize, I am comming out of one great block but I can assure you that I've been writting, I think 1/3 of the chapter is ready so I ask you to bear with me and be patient even if I have abused of your patience and kindness this past month I still ask yu to give me some more, I promise the chapter will be up in a couple of days and then exciting things will start to happen on my story.

Once again I owe you all an apology, I promise I'm working hard and I am giving my best, please keep supporting my story even if I as the writer tend to be a mess sometimes; I am thankful to all of you for giving my story a chance and for those who take the time to comment and leave kudos I want to say that you make me really happy, you put a smile on my face even on a dark day and that's something I will try to repay by improving my story and offering you better content, I'm really thankful to all the readers and please just wait a little bit more.

<3

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there, this work is the result of my constant daydreaming and wonderful Tv shows. Besides Vikings I was inspired by the Novel turned Tv series Outlander and the Korean historical drama Moon Lovers Scarlet Heart: Ryeo. I usually find myself thinking about time travel specially to the past so I decided to finally put my ideas together.  
> Even if I love history I had to give myself a "creative license" so things would make sense, so forgive me if this turns out to be unbearable to read.  
> I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it :)


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